The number of flu-related complications this flu season has reached its peak, with the flu outbreak expected to slow down by the middle of next month, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) officials said at a meeting with Premier Simon Chang (張善政) yesterday.
Chang visited the CDC yesterday morning, accompanied by Minister of Health and Welfare Chiang Been-huang (蔣丙煌) and ministry officials to hear a report on the flu outbreak and the measures taken by the ministry.
CDC Director-General Steve Kuo (郭旭崧) said that statistics show 961 flu-related complications have been reported this flu season, with 69 cases resulting in death, while 105 flu-related complications were reported on Tuesday last week, marking the highest number of daily reported cases this season.
Based on the statistics from previous years, the death rate of flu-related complications is about 10 percent, which means the number of deaths might still increase, he said, adding that the outbreak and related complications are expected to slow down in about one to two weeks.
“The peak season for flu cases, which fell over the Lunar New Year holiday, has passed, but some patients could still develop serious flu-related complications and need to be treated at hospitals,” Chang said after the meeting.
He said that the problem is that patients with flu-related complications are mostly being treated in a small number of hospitals, causing some emergency rooms to become overcrowded and leading people to worry that there are not enough hospital beds.
Department of Medical Affairs Director, Wang Tsung-hsi (王宗曦) said that ministry data showed that there are still 1,010 hospital beds in intensive care units and 391 ventilators available across the nation as of 9am yesterday, so people should have nothing to worry about.
While some medical centers have increased the number of beds in their intensive care units, Wang urged people not to rush to medical centers when they show flu-like symptoms.
“There are more than 118 hospitals across the nation that are capable of treating patients with moderate or serious flu-related complications, so I have asked the ministry to post the list of hospitals on its Web site as soon as possible,” Chang 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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