Dr. Lee Yi-tsang (李易倉) -- an ear, nose and throat specialist at Taipei Municipal Hoping Hospital (TMHH) -- yesterday morning returned to the hospital for enforced quarantine after Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) ordered health authorities to invoke police powers to detain him, the Chinese-language media reported.
According to TMHH, Lee worked part time in the hospital's otolaryngological department. The hospital was sealed off last Thursday due to an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). However, Lee and some other hospital staff refused to return for quarantine.
According to the hospital, Lee even continued practicing at his private Taipei clinic after he disobeyed the quarantine order.
PHOTO: LIAO CHENG-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES
"Lee has broken not only the Communicable Disease Prevention Law (傳染病防治法) but also the Doctor's Law (醫師法) and the Medical Treatment Law (醫療法)," Taipei City Government spokesman Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) said on Monday.
Wu said that Ma was furious after he heard that Lee had put his patients in danger. The mayor then ordered health authorities late on Monday night to use police measures to detain Lee.
Although Lee returned to the hospital yesterday morning, Taipei's Bureau of Health Director Chiou Shu-ti (邱淑媞) yesterday said that the doctor will face a fine of NT$60,000, according to the Communicable Disease Prevention Law.
A total of 975 hospital staff have been ordered to undergo quarantine at TMHH after it was temporarily closed down. According to Chiou, however, four of them are still missing while another four are in self-imposed quarantine in their homes.
The Bureau of Health decided to publish the names of the four missing staff in a bid to make them return.
The staff will be fined between NT$60,000 and NT$300,000.
They were Dr. Chou Ching-kai (周經凱), dean of the general surgery department, nurse Hsieh I-chun (謝宜君), contracted treatment assistant Lin Jui-yung (林瑞詠) and contracted administration assistant Chen Mo-jen (諶模珍).
Taipei City Government health bureau announced yesterday that the police issued a warrant for the arrest of the four runaway medical staff.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS