The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) issued a “yellow” travel alert for Beijing on Thursday, one day after Canada announced that a traveler who had returned from Beijing died of H5N1 avian flu.
In its travel warning, the second-highest on the Centers for Disease Control’s three-color coded scale, the council said people who must travel to Beijing should avoid direct contact with birds or poultry.
The alert also advised travelers to wash their hands frequently, wear a surgical mask, refrain from feeding wild birds — including pigeons — and refrain from eating uncooked meat or eggs.
If travelers develop a fever and cough, they should immediately see a doctor upon their return to Taiwan, the council said.
Canadian Minister of Health Rona Ambrose said at a press conference on Wednesday that the patient who died had begun feeling ill during a Dec. 27 flight home from Beijing to Alberta Province, experiencing a fever and headache.
Admitted to hospital on Jan. 1, the patient’s symptoms deteriorated leading to their death two days later.
A Canadian microbiology laboratory identified the H5N1 virus overnight from a specimen taken before the patient’s death.
The virus is contracted directly from birds, mainly poultry, Ambrose said, adding that 60 percent of cases have been fatal. However, she stressed that this was an isolated case and that “there is no evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission,” she said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it