Centers for Disease Control (CDC) spokesman Shih Wen-yi (施文儀) yesterday said that Taiwan may have been temporarily spared from swine flu, but experts were continuing to research and monitor the virus.
There is a fear that it may become stronger through a mutation and cause another outbreak in the northern flu season between October and January.
“We can take a break at the moment, even though we are still expecting the first confirmed case in the near future. The epidemic is slowing down, so there should not be an outbreak in Taiwan this time,” Shih told a daily press conference at the CDC yesterday afternoon.
“But we should not ease up on research of the virus. We should study all kinds of possible mutations it may go through,” Shih said.
He said that the virus was now spreading through the Southern Hemisphere, with Argentina joining the chain yesterday after its first swine flu case was confirmed.
“Whether the virus will become more vital is what concerns us,” Shih said.
Meanwhile, Academia Sinica and the CDC yesterday signed a contract for the development of vaccines and computer software to fight swine flu.
“We are capable of producing a vaccine. Of that, I am quite sure,” Academia Sinica president Wong Chi-huey (翁啟惠) said.
Department of Health Minister Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川) said that epidemiologists were actually looking for faster ways of confirming the disease and more efficient ways to treat it.
“We are never satisfied. It takes six hours to confirm a case, but it is not fast enough for us,” Yeh said.
An alleged US government plan to encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to form a joint venture with Intel to boost US chipmaking would place the Taiwanese foundry giant in a more disadvantageous position than proposed tariffs on imported chips, a semiconductor expert said yesterday. If TSMC forms a joint venture with its US rival, it faces the risk of technology outflow, said Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at the Taiwan Industry Economics Database of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. A report by international financial services firm Baird said that Asia semiconductor supply chain talks suggest that the US government would
ANNUAL LIGHT SHOW: The lanterns are exhibited near Taoyuan’s high-speed rail station and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the airport MRT line More than 400 lanterns are to be on display at the annual Taiwan Lantern Festival, which officially starts in Taoyuan today. The city is hosting the festival for the second time — the first time was in 2016. The Tourism Administration held a rehearsal of the festival last night. Chunghwa Telecom donated the main lantern of the festival to the Taoyuan City Government. The lanterns are exhibited in two main areas: near the high-speed rail (HSR) station in Taoyuan, which is at the A18 station of the Taoyuan Airport MRT, and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the MRT
Starlux Airlines on Tuesday announced it is to launch new direct flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Ontario, California, on June 2. The carrier said it plans to deploy the new-generation Airbus A350 on the Taipei-Ontario route. The Airbus A350 features a total of 306 seats, including four in first class, 26 in business class, 36 in premium economy and 240 in economy. According to Starlux’s initial schedule, four flights would run between Taoyuan and Ontario per week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Flights are to depart from Taoyuan at 8:05pm and arrive in California at 5:05pm (local time), while return flights
Nearly 800 Indian tourists are to arrive this week on an incentive tour organized by Indian company Asian Painted Ltd, making it the largest tour group from the South Asian nation to visit since the COVID-19 pandemic. The travelers are scheduled to arrive in six batches from Sunday to Feb. 25 for five-day tours, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The tour would take the travelers, most of whom are visiting Taiwan for the first time, to several tourist sites in Taipei and Yilan County, including tea houses in Taipei’s Maokong (貓空), Dadaocheng (大稻埕) and Ximending (西門町) areas. They would also visit