To help stem a serious enterovirus outbreak (腸病毒), Department of Health Director-General Lee Ming-liang (李明亮) yesterday launched a "wash your hands" campaign.
The campaign features a catchy song which, it is hoped, will help children to remember how to wash their hands properly.
There have been five deaths and 26 serious cases of enterovirus infection already this year, with more cases expected as the outbreak peaks.
Lee showed around 100 kindergarten children the correct way to wash their hands and joined in singing with Department of Health (DOH) officials, puppeteers and other performers.
The song details the five stages in the correct washing of hands: wetting hands, thoroughly rubbing hands with soap, cleaning hands with tap water, cleaning the tap, and drying your hands after.
"Many people don't know the right way to wash their hands," said the director-general of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) Twu Shiing-jer (
"Washing hands properly can not only prevent enterovirus infections, but also other gastrointestinal diseases and flu."
"Adults also need to wash their hands frequently, it's not something that only children have to do," Twu said.
Lee said washing hands was an easy thing to do but was vitally important in the prevention of disease and infection.
"We are running this campaign to make people aware of the importance of washing hands," Lee said.
Enterovirus infection is most easily avoided by washing hands, especially after using the bathroom, something children often fail to do and which explains their high infection rate.
DOH officials also reminded parents and care-givers to wash toys and teddy bears. "Children's toys are a common media for contagion, especially furry teddy bears."
According to the DOH, the present enterovirus outbreak is peaking at the moment. The CDC has declared 10 regions in Taiwan to be emergency areas.
The number of enterovirus infections confirmed as "serious" so far this year is 26, five of which have resulted in death. The victims were between the ages of one and three-and-a-half.
The most dangerous strain of enterovirus (EV71), has caused nine of the most serious cases this year, including one death. DOH officials said EV71 appeared to be making a comeback this year, after the summer 1998 outbreak, which caused 34 deaths.
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
DRONE CENTRAL: Taiwan aims to become Asia’s democratic hub for drones, with most exports focused on high-quality military-grade models, an official said Taiwan’s drone industry is expected to expand significantly by 2030, producing 100,000 units per month and exporting half of them, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Current drone production capacity is about 15,000 units per month, but the industry can quickly scale up as demand increases, Industrial Development Administration Director-General Chiou Chyou-huey (邱求慧) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s drone output grew 2.5-fold last year to NT$12.9 billion (US$408.3 million) under a government program to develop the uncrewed vehicle sector, he said. The Executive Yuan in October last year approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion into domestic production of uncrewed aerial
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
WARNING: China should stop engaging in actions that undermine regional peace and stability, as it would only build resentment among people across the Strait, the CGA said China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in waters from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and the western Pacific since US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met in Beijing, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. “In this part of the world, #China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability,” Wu wrote on X. In a separate post, he said Beijing was coercing Taiwan’s maritime domain, calling it illegal and provocative, after the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) expelled a
RSS