A new experimental tactic for preventing the spread of dengue fever is to be introduced over the next three days in the Northwest District (中西區) and South District (南區) of Tainan, the Central Epidemic Command Center said yesterday.
Department of Environmental Sanitation and Toxic Substances Director-General Yuan Shao-ying (袁紹英) said the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) would cooperate with the Tainan Environmental Protection Bureau to carry out a cleanup campaign, which includes disinfection and placing preventive drugs in standing water to prevent mosquito larvae from hatching.
There are to be multiple inspections in 20 boroughs in the two districts, Yuan said.
“Standing water in containers will be removed. Tires, cooling towers and low-lying land will be carefully inspected,” Yuan said, adding that fliers listing dengue fever prevention tips would also be delivered to all households in the 20 boroughs.
“Residents’ awareness [of the problem] is the most important tool in fighting dengue fever,” he said.
Residents are to be advised to inspect and clean their living environment at least once a week, and to use government-authorized insect repellents and environmental agents to help get rid of mosquitoes, he added.
A checklist for the public to examine their living environment can be downloaded from the administration’s Web site at www.epa.gov.tw, he said.
Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said the 20 boroughs were chosen because while the outbreak in North District (北區) — where the most cases have been reported so far this year — has shown signs of becoming more stable, reported cases in the two aforementioned districts have been increasing.
There were 662 cases reported nationwide on Monday, including 604 in Tainan and 52 in Kaohsiung, bringing the total number of cases nationwide since the beginning of May to 13,871, Chuang 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
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