The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said that it currently does not plan to raise the travel warning for the US, which saw its first imported case of Ebola confirmed on Tuesday.
“Judging from the quality and standards of the US’ public health and medical systems, the centers do not see the need to raise the travel notice for the country at the moment,” CDC Deputy Director-General Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) said.
Chou said that the infected patient has been kept in isolation and the possibility of the highly contagious disease spreading across the US seems rather low, adding that the centers would only consider issuing a travel warning if US-based Taiwanese or Taiwanese visitors to the country were at risk of contracting Ebola.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the patient was confirmed to have Ebola through laboratory tests after he traveled to Dallas, Texas, from Liberia, where an outbreak of the virus has killed about 1,830 people.
The person developed symptoms about four days after arriving in the US on Sept. 20, before seeking medical care at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas on Friday last week and being admitted on Sunday.
The US agency does not advise people on the same flight as the ill person to undergo monitoring, as Ebola is only contagious when an infected person is exhibiting active symptoms.
The WHO statistics show that as of Monday, a total of 6,572 cases of Ebola have been reported, including 3,459 in Liberia, 2,021 in Sierra Leone, 1,071 in Guinea, 20 in Nigeria and one in Senegal.
In response to the quickly spreading outbreak, Taiwan’s CDC set up an emergency task force on Aug. 8. It has also issued a level-3 warning against travel to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, as well as a level-2 alert for Nigeria.
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
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
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