HEALTH
CDC offers avian flu shots
The government has begun providing free vaccinations against avian influenza strain H5N1 to people at high risk of contracting the virus, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) said yesterday. By the end of last month, 12 cases of H5N1 infections in humans had been reported in Cambodia, China and Egypt, Chou said. The highly pathogenic virus was also found in smuggled pet birds at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport last year, Chou added. From now until Aug. 31, the CDC will provide free shots of the H5N1 vaccine to certain high-risk groups, including staff at laboratories that work with the virus, as well as those who work in quarantine units, the Coast Guard Administration, airports and customs points, Chou said. Pregnant women are advised against having the vaccination, he added.
MILITARY
Live-fire exercise planned
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) on Friday said it would stage a live-fire exercise next month on a disputed South China Sea island. The drill will take place on Taiping Island (太平島) from April 9 to April 11. The island is part of the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島), a sprawling chain claimed in whole or in part by Taiwan, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei. Among other weaponry, the drill will involve 40mm artillery and 120mm mortars, both shipped to the island last year to boost defense capability in the Spratlys, the CGA said. Taiping is the biggest island in the Spratlys and has long been governed by Taiwan, which maintains a small coast guard garrison there. Vietnam voiced anger after Taiwan moved the new, longer-range artillery and mortars to the island last year.
SOCIETY
Taipei cleanup planned
A Japanese civic group that came to Taiwan last year to help clean up the streets will relaunch the program in Taipei later this month to thank the nation for its humanitarian relief after the March 11, 2011, tsunami and earthquake in Japan. The Nagoya, Japan-based non-government organization Earth (NGO Earth) said it decided to visit the nation again because it was impressed by Taiwanese’s passion and hospitality. The group was joined by more than 200 locals who helped pick up trash in downtown Taipei last year. While last year’s event was organized by the Japanese group, the campaign this year will also be coordinated by a local organization, highlighting the friendship between Taiwan and Japan, NGO Earth said. Collection will take place between 1:45pm and 5:30pm on March 9, and will start at Taipei Municipal Song Shan Primary School.
TOURISM
Thai trains showcase sights
Trains painted with scenic attractions and Taiwanese snacks on Friday arrived at Siam Station, the largest and busiest stop in Bangkok’s mass transit system as part of efforts to promote Thai travel to Taiwan. The trains, bearing the logo “Time for Taiwan,” showcase the Taipei 101 skyscraper and the scenic Sun Moon Lake (日月潭), as well as signature foodstuffs such as bubble milk tea and soup with dumplings. The advertisements were launched by the Tourism Bureau amid a growing interest among Thais in traveling to Taiwan. Interest in visiting Taiwan has grown rapidly in Thailand over the past two years, and the country has posted a higher growth in visitors than any other Southeast Asian nation, travel operators said.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
REVENGE TRAVEL: A surge in ticket prices should ease this year, but inflation would likely keep tickets at a higher price than before the pandemic Scoot is to offer six additional flights between Singapore and Northeast Asia, with all routes transiting Taipei from April 1, as the budget airline continues to resume operations that were paused during the COVID-19 pandemic, a Scoot official said on Thursday. Vice president of sales Lee Yong Sin (李榮新) said at a gathering with reporters in Taipei that the number of flights from Singapore to Japan and South Korea with a stop in Taiwan would increase from 15 to 21 each week. That change means the number of the Singapore-Taiwan-Tokyo flights per week would increase from seven to 12, while Singapore-Taiwan-Seoul
POOR PREPARATION: Cultures can form on food that is out of refrigeration for too long and cooking does not reliably neutralize their toxins, an epidemiologist said Medical professionals yesterday said that suspected food poisoning deaths revolving around a restaurant at Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 Store in Taipei could have been caused by one of several types of bacterium. Ho Mei-shang (何美鄉), an epidemiologist at Academia Sinica’s Institute of Biomedical Sciences, wrote on Facebook that the death of a 39-year-old customer of the restaurant suggests the toxin involved was either “highly potent or present in massive large quantities.” People who ate at the restaurant showed symptoms within hours of consuming the food, suggesting that the poisoning resulted from contamination by a toxin and not infection of the
BAD NEIGHBORS: China took fourth place among countries spreading disinformation, with Hong Kong being used as a hub to spread propaganda, a V-Dem study found Taiwan has been rated as the country most affected by disinformation for the 11th consecutive year in a study by the global research project Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem). The nation continues to be a target of disinformation originating from China, and Hong Kong is increasingly being used as a base from which to disseminate that disinformation, the report said. After Taiwan, Latvia and Palestine ranked second and third respectively, while Nicaragua, North Korea, Venezuela and China, in that order, were the countries that spread the most disinformation, the report said. Each country listed in the report was given a score,