Doctors will now be liable for hefty fines if they fail to report patients suffering from dengue fever to the authorities, the Center of Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.
The tough measures come as part of a coordinated government effort to keep the illness under control.
"We can no longer tolerate a soft approach," CDC deputy head Chou Chih-hao (
Individual doctors will face fines of between NT$90,000 (US$ 2,734) and NT$450,000 while hospitals face fines of up to NT$1,500,000.
According to Chou, patients sometimes ask doctors to keep their status hidden to avoid the hassle of being tracked and having sanitation teams come to spray their homes.
Only doctors who deliberately fail to report dengue cases will be fined.
Chou urged all doctors to be more vigilant for the signs of dengue fever in patients.
"Some patients are only diagnosed with dengue fever after four or five visits to the doctor. This is holding back our efforts to stem the disease's spread this year," Chou said.
Since the start of summer, a total of 530 dengue fever cases have been reported in the country, with 366 cases in Kaohsiung City, 151 cases in Kaohsiung County, nine cases in Pingtung County, two in Tainan County, and one each in Taipei City and Keelung City, according to CDC tallies.
Meanwhile, 10 cases of dengue hemorrhagic fever have been reported, two of which resulted in deaths.
Both fatalities occurred in Kaohsiung City, including a 76-year-old man who died on Wednesday.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about