The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) confirmed 10 more cases of serious enteroviral infection yesterday morning, bringing the total number of cases nationwide to 232 so far this year.
In view of the increasing number of reported cases, Chou Chih-hao (周志浩), representative of the enterovirus epidemic command center and deputy director for the CDC, said yesterday that the center on Friday sent a notice to all county and city governments informing them to instruct hospitals under their jurisdiction that toys and play areas for children in hospitals and medical clinics should be closed until further notice.
Chou said the ban will take effect this week at the earliest, adding that the measure would be quickly implemented, since some hospitals had begun closing such facilities over the last couple of weeks.
Failure to follow instructions could lead to fines of up to NT$5,000, and these could reapplied if the situation is not improved, he said.
According to Chou, the new confirmed cases were spread across eight counties and cities, including Hsinchu, Taichung, Tainan and Penghu.
Noting that the enterovirus risk is still in its peak period, Chou reminded the general public to remain vigilant in terms of personal hygiene.
The enterovirus outbreak has claimed eight lives, with the latest fatality — a three-year-old boy in Taoyuan County — confirmed on Friday.
The CDC is also conducting tests to determine whether a boy in Chiayi County who died on Wednesday had been infected with the virus.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
A bipartisan group of US senators has introduced a bill to enhance cooperation with Taiwan on drone development and to reduce reliance on supply chains linked to China. The proposed Blue Skies for Taiwan Act of 2026 was introduced by Republican US senators Ted Cruz and John Curtis, and Democratic US senators Jeff Merkley and Andy Kim. The legislation seeks to ease constraints on Taiwan-US cooperation in uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), including dependence on China-sourced components, limited access to capital and regulatory barriers under US export controls, a news release issued by Cruz on Wednesday said. The bill would establish a "Blue UAS
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