HEALTH
Dengue fever case confirmed
An indigenous case of dengue fever has been confirmed in Greater Kaohsiung following a group infection in Greater Tainan earlier this month, an official of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. A 12-year-old boy developed flu-like symptoms, including a fever and a rash, on May 12 and was taken to a hospital, where he tested positive for dengue fever antigen on May 16. However, the boy, who lives in Nanzih District (楠梓), was not confirmed to have dengue fever until Tuesday, said Liu Shih-hao (劉士豪), director of the CDC’s public relations office. The boy’s mother also tested positive for dengue, said Tsai Wu-hsiung (蔡武雄), director of the Kaohsiung Health Department’s Center for Disease Control. The annual high season for dengue fever runs from June through August, Liu said.
AGRICULTURE
Torrential rain causes losses
Agricultural losses have grown to NT$35.05 million (US$1.19 million) in seven counties and cities since May 17, when torrential rain began to batter those areas, Council of Agriculture statistics released yesterday showed. Because of the storm damage, the price of leafy vegetables rose to NT$26 per kilogram in Taipei’s fruit and vegetable wholesale markets from NT$21.5 per kilogram recorded on May 16, according to statistics posted on the council’s Web site. The council said that crop losses in Greater Taichung, Greater Kao-hsiung and Greater Tainan, along with Pingtung, Yunlin, Changhua and Nantou counties, were NT$34.6 million. The area of damage to crop-growing farmland reached 2,290 hectares, accounting for 14 percent of the total.
SOCIETY
Lessons for dog owners
Starting next year, would-be dog owners in New Taipei City (新北市) will be eligible for various free services for their pets if they attend a two-hour lesson on how to look after a pet properly, a city official said. The incentives include exemption from pet registration fees and free pet chip IDs, cremation and neutering subsidies worth about NT$4,000, it said. The new regulations will be promoted from the middle of July, after which the public will be encouraged to attend the class, which teaches responsible pet ownership, it said. The purpose of the regulations is to help combat the high level of pet abandonment.
SOCIETY
Marriage on the increase
The nation recorded 49,558 marriages between January and last month, an increase of 1.7 percent compared with the same period last year, according to Ministry of the Interior statistics. Among the married couples, 85.7 percent were Taiwanese and 14.3 percent were international marriages, the ministry said. The number of international marriages increased by 0.2 percentage points from the same period last year, the ministry said. The majority of cross-border marriages involved a Chinese spouse (63.1 percent), while Southeast Asian spouses accounted for 22.4 percent and the remaining 14.5 percent were from other countries, it said. The average age of a Taiwanese woman getting married for the first time rose last year to a record 29.4, while the average age of first-time grooms has remained at about 31.8 for the past two years, the data showed. The average age of men who were re-marrying was 44.2 years, while for women it was 38.2, a slight drop compared with 2010.
A video allegedly featuring retired general Kao An-kuo (高安國) calling on Taiwanese military officers to surrender to China and overthrow the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government has sparked outrage and calls for him to be charged with treason. The video, titled “A message to Taiwanese military officers,” allegedly shows Kao saying: “I call on commanding officers of our military troops to stand up for Chinese nationalism, to take up this duty under heaven’s mandate to save Taiwanese from oppression and terrible suffering.” Dressed in military fatigues and a beret, the lieutenant general called on officers to overthrow the “fraudulent DPP regime,”
‘NOT IMPOSSIBLE’: Acceptance to the UN would end the nation’s troubles, but it would be impossible to achieve without US backing, Legislative Speaker You Si-kun said The US might recognize Taiwan if war breaks out in the Taiwan Strait, Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃) said yesterday while discussing politics with former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). Speaking on Chen’s program on Smile Radio, You reminisced about his agrarian childhood, studies, the founding of the Democratic Progressive Party in 1986 and his eight years as Yilan County commissioner. Chen’s appointment of You as premier in February 2002 marked several firsts, as he was Taiwan’s youngest premier, as well as the first from a farming background and first democratically elected county leader to hold the office. Asked to share his views on
ONLY EXCEPTIONS: The mayors of the two largest cities voiced concerns over hidden cases, while all other local governments are to follow eased CECC guidelines All local governments, with the exception of Taipei and New Taipei City, are to allow dine-in services at restaurants after the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Friday announced that it would on Tuesday lower a nationwide COVID-19 alert to level 2. The center on July 8 allowed the resumption of dining at restaurants nationwide — despite keeping the alert level at 3. At the time, this prompted all cities and counties, except Penghu Country, to keep local dine-in bans in place. Following Friday’s CECC announcement that COVID-19 prevention measures would be further relaxed, the Taipei and New Taipei City governments
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday rejected the claim Beijing has been making about Taiwan’s status, while thanking US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman for raising concerns about Taiwan during her meeting with Chinese officials. Sherman met with Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) on a visit to Tianjin on Sunday and Monday, with Wang urging Washington not to infringe on China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Taiwan is part of China, a fundamental fact that would never change, and China has the right to take any action needed to restrain Taiwanese independence, Wang said, urging Washington to abide
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