The SARS outbreak in Taipei may still be in the peak period, said Chiou Shu-ti (
Chiou made the remarks in the wake of 52 SARS cases being reported Friday -- exactly one month after Taipei Municipal Hoping Hospital was sealed off because of the outbreak of the disease within the hospital.
Chiou noted that of the 52 newly reported cases, two were imported from other countries, three are due to contacts with family members or friends who are suspected SARS cases, nine are linked with hospitals, while the remaining 38 have neither traveled abroad recently nor had contact with suspected cases.
She also said that of the 52 cases, 39 either dialed 119 or used their own vehicles to go to hospitals, while 33 called hospitals two days after coming down with SARS-like symptoms.
Chiou urged those who develop a fever or cough not to medicate themselves, not to use public transportation, not to go to school or work, not to go to public places and not to attend gatherings.
She also urged them to wear a surgical mask, call 119 or use their own cars to go to the hospital or a fever-screening center established by the Department of Health, as well as wash their hands frequently.
Meanwhile, as of yesterday, the Taipei City Government will no longer require that visitors entering City Hall wear a surgical mask, although they will still have to have their temperature taken.
The city government also recommends that visitors with a slight cough wear a surgical mask to protect themselves and others and avoid talking in elevators.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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