The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday rebutted the WHO’s pandemic update on Friday that said Taiwan was seeing a new peak in A(H1N1) influenza.
“The latest peak was about two weeks ago. The epidemic has been actually slowing down since we launched our vaccine program in November,” CDC spokesman Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) said.
The latest WHO update said: “In East Asia, influenza transmission remains variable. Influenza activity continues to increase in Japan and has recently begun to increase in Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei, both of which previously experienced a peak of transmission.”
“The epidemic has been slowing down, but nobody could predict when the next peak will occur,” Chou said.
Taiwan experienced its first peak of swine flu at the beginning of September, when most students returned to their schools, he said. The second peak occurred approximately two weeks ago.
He encouraged the public to get vaccinated as soon as possible because it takes between two to three weeks for the vaccine to develop full protection.
“The weather is becoming colder and it is normal for the virus to become more active. We need these vaccines to help protect us,” Chou said.
Chou also confirmed three more people have been hospitalized with swine flu — a 32-year-old woman in Taipei, a five-year-old boy in the south and a 53-year-old man in Kaohsiung.
The Central Epidemic Command Center announced late yesterday that two more people have died of swine flu in Taiwan, bringing the death toll to 35.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
MINOR DISRUPTION: The outage affected check-in and security screening, while passport control was done manually and runway operations continued unaffected The main departure hall and other parts of Terminal 2 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport lost power on Tuesday, causing confusion among passengers before electricity was fully restored more than an hour later. The outage, the cause of which is still being investigated, began at about midday and affected parts of Terminal 2, including the check-in gates, the security screening area and some duty-free shops. Parts of the terminal immediately activated backup power sources, while others remained dark until power was restored in some of the affected areas starting at 12:23pm. Power was fully restored at 1:13pm. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a