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Eleven more people hospitalized with swine flu: center

The Central Epidemics Command Center (CECC) yesterday said that 11 more people with A(H1N1) had been hospitalized.

The center said three were males and eight females, ranging in age from seven to 31. Six were in the north, one in the south, one each in Kaohsiung and Pingtung, and one on the east coast.

“All 11 patients are very young and that is something that concerns us,” CECC spokesman Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) said.

This brought the total of hospitalized cases to 332, with 26 remaining in hospital.

Chou said about 74 percent of the patients did not have any chronic diseases prior to being infected.

In response to allegations by the Consumers’ Foundation that some hospitals had asked swine flu patients to pay single room fees during their quarantine period, Chou said that once a patient is confirmed to be infected and a decision is made to quarantine him or her, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) will take care of all fees.

The Consumers’ Foundation recently conducted a survey on hospital regulations for swine flu patients. The survey covered 14 hospitals in the Taipei area between Sept. 21 and Sept. 23.

Five hospitals said they would decline patients’ requests to be quarantined in rooms covered by the National Health Insurance. A single room, however, would cost approximately NT$4,600 a day and the fee would not be covered by the National Health Insurance.

“The local government's health department will decide whether a patient should be quarantined. If they decide to do so, the CDC will take care of all related charges, whether the patient is quarantined in a single room or quarantined with other swine flu patients,” the spokesman said.

Chou reminded the public that a quarantined patient could not be relocated or moved until the quarantine period is up.
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