To contain the spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), the Executive Yuan decided yesterday to upgrade the level of the Cabinet's ad hoc SARS response task force from the secretary-general level to that of the vice premier.
"Taking into account the increasing number of SARS cases in China and the overwhelming number of local travelers and businessmen in and out of China, it's necessary to upgrade the level of the task force and let it be headed by Vice Premier Lin Hsin-i (林信義)," Cabinet Spokesman Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) quoted Premier Yu Shyi-kun as saying yesterday morning after the weekly closed-door Cabinet affairs meeting.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), China has reported a cumulative total of 2,001 SARS cases with 92 deaths as of Tuesday.
A cumulative total of 3,947 probable cases with 228 deaths have been reported to WHO from 25 countries.
According to Lin, the government's containment measures comprise three stages. Under the first stage, which is currently in place, all outbound travelers must have their temperature taken before boarding the plane and inbound travelers will have it taken before they are allowed through customs..
Inbound travelers must also fill out a SARS survey at the entrance gate. Probable SARS cases discharged from hospitals must stay under home quarantine for 14 days.
The government will launch the second stage of the management measure if reported cases reach 200, a death or a case ofcommunity infection is reported. The third stage will be implemented if there is an exportation of a SARS case.
The task force is scheduled to hold its first meeting today, focusing on the economic aspect of the SARS outbreak. The meeting will then be held every Wednesday after the weekly Cabinet meeting.
According to Lin Hsin-i, the government will adopt stricter measures to curb the spread of the outbreak, if necessary.
"We're thinking of asking local organizers to postpone their invitations to Chinese professionals," he said. "We'd also like Taiwanese nationals residing in China and wanting to return for a visit or family funerals to delay their visits."
To help the tourism industry cope with the fallout of the global pandemic, Yu yesterday approved a proposal presented by the transportation ministry to provide subsidies to travel agencies that borrow from banks to cope with the impact of the epidemic.
The ceiling of the loans will be set at NT$1 million and the period of the subsidies will cover one year. The subsidy will cover 4 percentage points of the interest rate.
Those who have already borrowed money from banks will be eligible for having their interest exempted and the payment of the money they borrow delayed for three years.
Regarding the tourism industry's request to delay the payment of their business tax, Minister of Finance Lin Chuan (林全) yesterday said that it seemed that the government would be unable to grant the industry's wish.
"It's inappropriate to allow one specific industry to delay paying their taxes," Lin said. "It's bound to cause a lot more trouble and create a dent in the state coffers if other industries such as the aviation industry demand the same treatment."
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