As the government maps out sounder measures to curb the spread of SARS, two of the most prestigious hospitals in Taiwan have either cautiously resumed or planned to reopen their emergency services yesterday.
The Cabinet's SARS prevention committee announced yesterday it was launching a nationwide temperature check of the public for June 1 to June 10.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
The committee will distribute thermometers to village chiefs and borough wardens for them to check the temperatures of their residents.
The government encourages the public to have their temperature checked twice a day, but the measure is not compulsory.
As of yesterday, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) reported 582 probable SARS cases, 12 higher than the previous day's record. The number of deaths remained at 72.
National Taiwan University Hospital, which closed its emergency room on May 12 because of a SARS outbreak among its health workers, announced resumption of its emergency service yesterday.
The hospital held a press conference, which was attended by Chen Ming-fong (
Before the press conference, Lee Ming-liang (李明亮), co-chairman of the Cabinet's SARS prevention committee, and Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) both visited the hospital and expressed gratitude for the hospital's contribution to the battle against SARS.
"Since the first SARS case came to our emergency room on March 14, we did not have time to adjust the facilities in the emergency room to cope with the fever patients efficiently," Chang said.
"We could only separate a block from the emergency room's limited space to isolate fever patients. The block could tolerably accommodate fever patients until the SARS outbreak in Taipei Municipal Hoping Hospital," Chang said.
After Hoping Hospital's outbreak in late April, the National Taiwan University Hospital emergency room was overcrowded with fever patients. "It was beyond the capacity of our emergency room to handle so many patients," Chang said.
As there was not enough space to contain fever patients in the emergency room, the hospital could only arrange for the patients to be treated at other medical units.
Some of the fever patients began developing SARS symptoms a few days later, putting other patients and health workers in their units in danger.
By the time the hospital announced the closure of its emergency room on May 26, two to three health workers in the emergency room already had a fever.
"Among the probable SARS cases reported from our hospital, 10 of them were related to the emergency room. All of them had fever and nine of them have since developed pneumonia," Chang said.
One of them still needs intubation but the rest are in stable condition, Chang said.
In order to prevent the emergency room from becoming overcrowded again, Chen said the hospital will control the number of fever patients it receives.
"If the number exceeds the capacity of the emergency room, we'll stop admitting patients and refer them to other hospitals," Chen said.
After the emergency room's closure, the hospital got samples from the ward to find out if viral contamination had taken place.
Mildly active responses to the viral tests occurred in several locations such as rails of the beds where SARS patients slept and areas where SARS patients were temporarily located, Chang said.
Also see stories:
Hospital officials freed on bail
SARS-stricken family reunites after losing father
Lantern festival saved Taichung, Hu says
Chen asks military to ease restrictions on taking vacations
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