The Department of Health (DOH) yesterday had sent the specimens from nine SARS patients at the Taipei Municipal Hoping Hospital to laboratories for genetic-sequencing analysis to determine the source of the virus.
DOH Deputy Director Lee Lung-teng (李龍騰) told a press conference yesterday that authorities want to find out if the infections came from the same source.
"If the SARS virus types [from samples taken] between the sixth floor and the eighth floor [where the first cases of SARS infection in the hospital appeared), are the same, it would help the medical experts to limit the scope of the infection and single out the source of virus. If they are different, it might take more time to track down the source of the virus," Lee said.
He said one of the nine patients is a 47 year-old woman surnamed Tsao who is suspected to be the source of the outbreak at the hospital. She is suspected of spreading the disease to a laundry worker at the hospital when she visited the facility's emergency room.
He said that it has been confirmed that Tsao traveled on the same train on March 27 as a visitor from Hong Kong, who was a resident of the Amoy Garden apartment complex.
The largest number of SARS patients in Hong Kong have come from that complex.
"It is yet to be determined, however, if there is a direct relation between Tsao's train ride on March 27 and her illness," Lee said.
Meanwhile, Lee said that all of the medical staff under the health department's command have been mobilized to help combat the spread of SARS.
He said the department has announced a plan to summon about 1,300 volunteer medical staffers nationwide, including 300 doctors and 1,000 nurses, to provide back up to the national SARS prevention work. The volunteers will be rewarded of their efforts.
"The 1,300 staff members will be drafted through the municipal hospitals, DOH-affiliated hospitals and military hospitals," Lee said.
The volunteer plan is based on a model being used in Singapore.
Lee also said that the number of isolation wards and beds nationwide is sufficient to handle the number of SARS patients.
"There are currently a total of 778 beds in isolation wards -- 338 of which are occupied by tuberculosis patients, so 253 are available for use. We don't see any shortage of isolation-ward beds for quarantine use so far," Lee said.
In addition, Lee said the DOH has ordered all hospitals in the country to take the temperature of anyone wanting to enter the facility.
"Anyone whose temperature is higher than 37.5℃ will not be allowed to enter the hospital. They will be advised to seek medical help from designated SARS hospitals instead and to enter quarantine," Lee said.
Given the hospital outbreak, Lee said the World Health Organization (WHO) is likely to return Taiwan to its list of SARS-affected areas with local transmission.
On Thursday, the WHO listed Taiwan as a SARS-affected area with limited local transmission, the same category as the US or London.
"But if we can contain the spread of the disease in two weeks, with either no SARS-related case or just one reported daily, Taiwan might be removed [from the list] again," Lee said.
As of yesterday, there were a total of 250 SARS-related cases reported nationwide -- 49 are probable cases, 65 are suspected cases and the status of 21 have yet to be determined.
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