Taipei County health officials warned yesterday that the spread of enteroviruses might be more serious than first thought.
Since a new measure that requires schools to report enterovirus cases was put into effect on June 5, the number of the reported cases surged nearly fourfold to 379 last week, compared with no more than 100 cases a week before, the official said.
Enterovirus are small viruses that are second only to the common cold as the most common viral infections in humans.
Enterovirus 71 (EV71) can cause diarrhea, rashes and hand, foot and mouth disease. It is the most common cause of aseptic meningitis and can cause serious illness, especially in infants and those with compromised immune systems.
In Taipei County, 26 kindergartens, daycare centers and some first-grade and second-grade classes in elementary schools have announced temporary suspensions of classes in a bid to stem the spread.
Schools that fail to report enterovirus cases to the health authorities face fines of between NT$3,000 and NT$15,000 and being named in the media.
Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director Chou Chih-hau (周志浩) said Monday that the enterovirus outbreak will peak this week.
Chou asked all elementary schools, kindergartens and daycare centers to rigorously follow the regulations on class suspensions to prevent the spread of the viruses.
A Cabinet-level epidemic response command center has already ordered that daycare centers, kindergartens and schools must close for disinfection whenever two confirmed cases are reported in one class in a week.
The Taipei City Department of Health said yesterday that 113 classes at elementary schools, kindergartens and daycare centers had been suspended.
The department said a total of 192 serious enterovirus cases, including 187 EV71 infections, have been confirmed in the country so far this year, with seven fatalities.
In Taipei City, there have been four suspected enterovirus cases to date, with one confirmed serious case.
Department of Health Commissioner Chiu Wen-hsiang (邱文祥) said the number of new cases is expected to drop when summer vacation begins and the amount of contact between students declines.
He said the Taipei Department of Environmental Protection began disinfecting the city’s elementary schools, kindergartens and daycare centers last Saturday and that 696 have been cleaned, with work at the remaining 156 to be completed by the end of yesterday.
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
STRAIT OF HORMUZ: In the case of a prolonged blockade by Iran, Taiwan would look to sources of LNG outside the Middle East, including Australia and the US Taiwan would not have to ration power due to a shortage of natural gas, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday, after reports that the Strait of Hormuz was closed amid the conflict in the Middle East. The government has secured liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies for this month and contingency measures are in place if the conflict extends into next month, Kung told lawmakers. Saying that 25 percent of Taiwan’s natural gas supplies are from Qatar, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) asked about the situation in light of the conflict. There would be “no problems” with
RSS