China said yesterday the number of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) cases in Beijing may soon begin falling but that the virus could wreak havoc in the vast hinterlands.
Latest figures showed the virus had killed at least 16 more people and infected another 168 in China and Hong Kong.
The worldwide death toll neared 500 with more than 7,300 cumulative infections.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said China was the key to containing global outbreaks of the flu-like virus.
A team of four WHO experts were to visit Hebei Province, which surrounds Beijing and is home to some of the capital's "floating population" of migrant workers, today to assess the ability of healthcare systems to cope with an outbreak.
The number of probable SARS cases in Hebei has risen sharply in the last few days, WHO said on its Web site (www.who.int).
China's Health Ministry said yesterday that five more people had died of SARS and another 159 were infected, taking the national death toll to 219, and the number of cases to 4,560. Three of the deaths were in Beijing along with 97 of the latest infections.
Hong Kong said the virus had killed 11 more people in the territory and infected another eight.
Singapore said it could declare the epidemic under control if it goes 10 more days without a new case.
Twenty-seven people have died from SARS in Singapore out of 204 reported cases.
But the number of people in hospital is at a five-week low and only four new cases emerged last week -- the lowest since the epidemic began in March.
Canada, where 23 people have died of SARS since mid-March, said Tuesday it has 146 probable SARS cases, two less than on Monday.
Roche Holding AG announced yesterday that it was on track to have a SARS diagnostic test ready next month but that it might take at least 18 months for it to be ready for distribution beyond the research community.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique