The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday that anti-epidemic measures to combat swine flu will be eased gradually, but urged the public to stay vigilant.
“You do not have to panic, but you do have to pay attention to your health,” CDC spokesman Shih Wen-yi (施文儀) told a press conference at the center yesterday.
Shih said that as the swine flu epidemic seemed to be slowing down, onboard inspections at international airports in Taiwan ended yesterday and were being replaced by “inspections of suspect passengers.”
For the new inspections, Shih said that epidemiologists would only board a plane when sick passengers were reportedly onboard.
“I would also urge the public to delay a trip and not board a plane when they feel sick. This is the best solution to stopping infection,” Shih said.
Shih also urged overseas Taiwanese students to be sure they are healthy before returning home for summer vacation.
He said that as schools in the US and Canada will start their summer break in two weeks, swine flu could be brought into Taiwan by students if they are infected. Both countries are among the worst affected by the new H1N1 virus, or swine flu.
Taiwan's overseas representative offices will provide students with information on Taiwan's precautionary measures against the flu and help them if they need medical care, Shih said.
Also yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said the ministry's travel advisories for countries with confirmed cases of swine flu were appropriate and that no countries had protested the measures to date.
A yellow alert, at the bottom of the MOFA's three-color travel advisory scale, serves as a reminder for travelers to exercise caution. An orange travel alert advises travelers to postpone their trips and a red alert warns travelers not to enter the area in question under any circumstances.
Asked whether the ministry would consider raising its yellow travel advisory for Japan given that country's increasing number of H1N1 cases, Chen said the ministry, which closely follows the epidemic alerts of the CDC, respects the CDC's professional judgment but would not change its advisory for now.
He said that as the confirmed cases are mainly in the Kansai Area in western Japan, this indicated that the disease had not yet spread to other parts of the country.
The confirmed cases in Japan raised particular concern in Taiwan because Japanese tourists constitute the biggest segment of international tourist arrivals in Taiwan, with more than 1 million visitors each year. Japan is also the most popular tourist destination for Taiwanese travelers.
Mexico is the only country for which the MOFA has issued an orange travel alert.
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