Chinese authorities lifted some SARS quarantines in Beijing where the infection rate appears to be falling, but the global threat of the disease remains with authorities in Nigeria watching for possible cases after the death of a Taiwanese man there.
China's official Xinhua news agency yesterday reported that about 10,000 Beijing residents were in isolation -- down from a peak of about 16,000 last week.
Malaysia said it will deploy military medics at border crossings to bolster SARS screenings and will host a World Health Organization SARS conference next month.
In Singapore, determined authorities proved that no visitor is immune from SARS checks. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder filled out a health declaration form and was monitored by a thermal-imaging camera after he touched down at Changi airport as part of his Southeast Asian tour.
Schroeder said the procedure was "totally pain-free" -- a quip that won praise from Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, who described the visit as "especially important given the SARS situation."
Also yesterday, Hong Kong mourned the death of its first doctor from SARS.
More than 7,400 cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome have been reported worldwide and the international death toll stood at least 580.
China announced 10 new deaths yesterday, including five in Beijing, bringing the national death toll to 262. The total number of cases in China rose by 80 to 5,086.
Hong Kong said it had seven deaths and six new cases.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)