The 44-year-old lieutenant colonel who contracted the SARS virus had shown no improvement in his condition since he was sent to Taipei Municipal Hoping Hospital (和平醫院), hospital superintendent Chu Ta-cheng (璩大成) said yesterday.
Chu said the patient, surnamed Chan, had a fever of about 38.8?C on Wednesday afternoon and chest X-rays revealed that the condition of lung infiltration had spread from the right side to the left. Hospital officials said his temperature was fluctuating throughout the day.
Chu said doctors were worried most about Chan's shortness of breath and low oxygen levels, adding that the patient has been given an oxygen inhaler. Chu declined to speculate on the probability of intubation.
Physicians found that a serum treatment was having little effect and began administering a steroid to Chan yesterday, Chu said.
"The next three days are a critical observation period," Chu said.
While the disease is still in its early stages, "I think his prognosis is good," he said.
Chu said Chan's emotions were unstable and that he appeared anxious. Chan, staying in Hoping's negative pressure ward, declined the hospital's suggestions that he talk to the public via a video communication system, citing his weak condition and privacy considerations.
Chu said Chan's brothers and sisters, supervisors and co-workers had called to him to cheer him up.
After obtaining Chan's consent, the Taipei City Government's Bureau Health made public late yesterday a picture of Chan waving his hand and wearing an inhalator.
Meanwhile, health authorities have continued SARS contact-tracing. Health officials said that the 23 people who had been in contact with Chan have not developed any symptoms so far.
The Senior High School of National Taiwan Normal University (師大附中), where Chan's wife teaches chemistry, has disinfected the campus completely. Some students said they were not worried about the disease because they believed it was probably an isolated case.
But the single case has caused the nation's stock market to slump. Many travel agencies and shop owners around Hoping Hospital, the facility designated to handle SARS cases, complained that the negligence of the infected researcher had hurt their business, just recovering from the outbreak this April.
"We really hope that it is the only and the last SARS case," said a worker at a noodle shop near the hospital, adding that business has dropped since Wednesday. "We don't want to see SARS come back. It was a hard time for us."
The Chien Feng IV (勁蜂, Mighty Hornet) loitering munition is on track to enter flight tests next month in connection with potential adoption by Taiwanese and US armed forces, a government source said yesterday. The kamikaze drone, which boasts a range of 1,000km, debuted at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition in September, the official said on condition of anonymity. The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and US-based Kratos Defense jointly developed the platform by leveraging the engine and airframe of the latter’s MQM-178 Firejet target drone, they said. The uncrewed aerial vehicle is designed to utilize an artificial intelligence computer
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday decided to shelve proposed legislation that would give elected officials full control over their stipends, saying it would wait for a consensus to be reached before acting. KMT Legislator Chen Yu-jen (陳玉珍) last week proposed amendments to the Organic Act of the Legislative Yuan (立法院組織法) and the Regulations on Allowances for Elected Representatives and Subsidies for Village Chiefs (地方民意代表費用支給及村里長事務補助費補助條例), which would give legislators and councilors the freedom to use their allowances without providing invoices for reimbursement. The proposal immediately drew criticism, amid reports that several legislators face possible charges of embezzling fees intended to pay
REQUIREMENTS: The US defense secretary must submit a Taiwan security assistance road map and an appraisal of Washington’s ability to respond to Indo-Pacific conflict The US Congress has released a new draft of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes up to US$1 billion in funding for Taiwan-related security cooperation next year. The version published on Sunday by US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson removed earlier language that would have invited Taiwan to participate in the US-led Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC). A statement on Johnson’s Web page said the NDAA “enhances U.S. defense initiatives in the Indo-Pacific to bolster Taiwan’s defense and support Indo-Pacific allies.” The bill would require the US secretary of defense to “enable fielding of uncrewed and anti-uncrewed systems capabilities”
RSS