Department of Health (DOH) Director-General Chen Chien-jen (程建仁) said yesterday he hopes Taiwan can be removed from the World Health Organization's (WHO) travel advisory list by June 20.
Chen said Taiwan must meet five criteria to qualify for removal from the list: The daily new SARS caseload must fall below five; the number of hospitalized SARS patients must be less than 60; the outbreak must show signs of waning; no cross-border transmissions must be reported; and all probable cases must be traced to their origins.
According to tallies compiled by the DOH's Center for Disease Control (CDC), the number of newly reported SARS cases has remained stable at around 10 per day for the past week and only five or less are classified as probable SARS cases. Nevertheless, the CDC reported 50 probable cases yesterday.
CDC Director Su Yi-jen (
Su said hospitalized patients who have tested negative for SARS will be moved out of negative pressure quarantine wards over the next few days.
As of yesterday morning, Taiwan had tallied 660 probable SARS cases, including 81 related deaths. Most of yesterday's 50 reported new cases were reclassified from suspected cases.
In preparation for a 10-day nationwide temperature-taking campaign that will kick off Sunday as part of the SARS prevention campaign, Su said his center has distributed ear thermometers to grassroots ward chief offices to facilitate enforcement of the program.
The campaign is aimed at encouraging people to have their temperatures taken twice a day to help detect potential SARS carriers early enough to contain the spread of the disease. Fever is one of the early symptoms of SARS.
Several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials including Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) are to be summoned for questioning and then transferred to prosecutors for holding an illegal assembly in Taipei last night, the Taipei Police said today. Chu and two others hosted an illegal assembly and are to be requested to explain their actions, the Taipei City Police Department's Zhongzheng (中正) First Precinct said, referring to a protest held after Huang Lu Chin-ju (黃呂錦茹), KMT Taipei's chapter director, and several other KMT staffers were questioned for alleged signature forgery in recall petitions against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. Taipei prosecutors had filed
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
NEW WORLD: Taiwan is pursuing innovative approaches to international relations through economics, trade and values-based diplomacy, the foreign minister said Taiwan would implement a “three-chain strategy” that promotes democratic values in response to US tariffs, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said. Taiwan would aim to create a “global democratic value chain,” seek to capitalize on its position within the first island chain and promote a “non-red supply chain,” Lin was quoted as saying in the ministry’s written report to the Legislative Yuan submitted ahead of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee meeting slated for today. The Ministry would also uphold a spirit of mutual beneficial collaboration, maintaining close communication and consultations with Washington to show that Taiwan-US cooperation
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