The Center for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday it has received 20 reports of suspect severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) cases. \nSix of the 20 cases matched the World Health Organization's definition of "probable cases" of SARS, said Chen Tsai-ching (陳再晉), CDC director-general. \nThe CDC is in the process of checking whether another three of the 20 could be listed as suspect SARS cases, Chen said. \nThe CDC has confirmed 11 out of the 20 were not suspect SARS cases, according to Chen. \nChen said that before the WHO pinpoints the virus that causes SARS, all cases can only be listed as "probable" or "suspected" cases. \nOn Friday, a Vietnam-based US diplomat chartered a flight to send his son to Taiwan for SARS treatment. \nChen said the National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH), where the child was admitted to, did not report any new developments of the boy's illness yesterday. \nNevertheless, Chen said the child's symptoms did not fully match the WHO's definition of suspected SARS cases because his fever has not been higher than 38?C since his arrival at Taiwan. \nThe boy was referred to NTUH with the help of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). \nIn an interview with the Central News Agency on Friday, Douglas Paal, AIT's Taipei office director, said the SARS outbreak has given Taiwan a rallying point regarding observer rights in the upcoming World Health Assembly. \nAccording to CNA, Paal said Taiwan has done well in handling the SARS cases that have occurred in the past few weeks, in contrast with China's behavior. This will be an argument for Taiwan's participation, Paal said. \nAfter the SARS outbreak, two officials from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were dispatched to Taiwan to help study the cause of the disease. \nAccording to CNA, Paal said the US officials highly approved of the CDC's handling of the SARS outbreak. \nMeanwhile, Chen said in order to prevent the spread of SARS, schools or institutions where suspect SARS cases are reported can decide on their own to impose "quarantine vacation" of up to seven days. \nBesides, the Department of Health reiterated yesterday it showed no favoritism in dealing with SARS treatments for the US diplomat's child and China-based Taiwanese businessmen. \nDepartment Director-General Twu Shiing-jer (涂醒哲) called earlier this week for China-based Taiwanese businessmen infected with SARS to be treated in local hospitals. \nWhen the US diplomat's child was flown to Taiwan, some local media reported that the department had set double standards in giving SARS treatment to foreigners and Taiwanese businessmen. \nThe health department issued a statement yesterday saying it has convened a meeting on March 18 to discuss how to transport suspected SARS cases to Taiwan. \nAccording to the statement, suspected SARS cases can be sent to Taiwan if quarantine measures during the transporting process are properly taken. \nThe statement said the suspected SARS cases' nationality "makes no difference" to the treatment they receive. \nThe health department still encourages China-based Taiwanese businessmen to stay in local hospitals for treatment, said the statement. \nAlso See Story: \n \nEditorial: SARS: The US helps, WHO doesn't
GREATER NUMBER: The sorties might have been a response to the US and the EU expressing concern on Friday over China’s ‘provocations’ in the Taiwan Strait Twenty-five Chinese military aircraft and four naval ships were detected around Taiwan from 6am Saturday to 6am yesterday, including eight airplanes that had crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and another two that entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ). The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft that entered Taiwan’s southwestern ADIZ were a Y-8 anti-submarine plane and a BZK-005 uncrewed aerial vehicle, the Ministry of National Defense said. The aircraft that flew across the median line include two Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets, four J-16 multipurpose fighters and two J-10 jets, the ministry’s official Web site showed. Taiwan’s armed forces monitored the
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LUNAR NEW YEAR PEAK: Taiwanese who are in China should get vaccinated and consider returning early, as infection rates are expected to increase, the CECC said China faces five major problems once COVID-19 begins spreading there, with a peak in infections likely during the Lunar New Year holidays, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝), who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), said yesterday. Wang wrote on Facebook that according to the center’s data, the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in China is worth noting, as the new Omicron subvariants BF.7 and BA.5.2 spreading in China are highly infectious and are more transmissible than the previously dominating Omicron subvariants. “The virus cannot be eliminated even under China’s strict control measures,” he wrote. “Its policy
TWO RISKIEST SPOTS: People living in Taitung County received 20 earthquake alerts over the past 12 months, while Hualien County placed second with 17 alerts Taitung County residents received national earthquake alerts on their mobile phones more frequently over the past year than people in other parts of Taiwan, Central Weather Bureau data showed. Between Nov. 20 last year and Nov. 20, Taitung residents topped other administrative regions with 20 earthquake alerts. They were followed by Hualien County residents who received 17 alerts and Chiayi County residents who received 11, the bureau said. Residents in Penghu, Kinmen and Lienchiang counties did not receive a single earthquake alert, it said. The bureau shared the data on Facebook for the first time since the government connected the earthquake warning
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