As the total number of confirmed dengue fever cases yesterday reached 12,766 nationwide since the start of summer, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) sent a group of “cleanup consultants” to Tainan to help with efforts to prevent the spread of the disease.
There were 397 cases of dengue reported nationwide on Monday, with 319 in Tainan and 65 in Kaohsiung, while other counties and cities had fewer cases — three in Taipei; two in Pingtung County, Taoyuan and Taichung; and one in Chiayi City, Chiayi County, Hualien County and Kinmen County.
The CDC said most of the cases reported outside of Tainan and Kaohsiung had traveled to southern Taiwan in the past few months.
As of yesterday, a total of 9,608 people, including 8,400 in Tainan and 1,042 in Kaohsiung, have already recovered from dengue, the centers said, adding that 48 patients remain in intensive care.
The cleanup consultants, volunteers that have experience in dengue fever prevention, arrived at Tainan North District Office yesterday to hold discussions with borough heads and community volunteers about further community cleanup actions.
Meanwhile, the Central Epidemic Command Center asked the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Tainan Hospital to stop accepting patients that do not need urgent treatment, so that it can focus on the treatment of dengue patients.
The center also urged the public to examine their living environment and to clean anything that contains standing water at least once a week, because mosquito larvae in standing water hatch after about a week.
Patients that contract dengue fever should strictly follow their doctor’s instructions, take medicine, drink lots of water and rest at home as much as possible, the centers said, adding that they should make sure they do not get bitten by a mosquito within five days of being diagnosed to avoid spreading the virus.
Two people were killed and another nine injured yesterday after being stung by hornets while hiking in New Taipei City’s Rueifang District (瑞芳), with officials warning against wearing perfume or straying from trails during the autumn to avoid the potentially deadly creatures. Seven of the hikers only sustained minor injuries after being stung along the Bafenliao Hiking Trail (八分寮) and made their way down the mountain with a guide, the New Taipei City Fire Department said. Four of them — all male — sustained more serious injuries and were assisted when leaving the mountain, the department said. Two of them, a man surnamed
Recent movements by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have been “highly unusual,” but the military maintains a grasp of the situation, Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said on Friday, after the military for the first time said it was monitoring troop movements in China’s Dacheng Bay (大埕灣). The minister gave the remarks to reporters before appearing at the legislature on the first day of its new session. The Ministry of National Defense on Thursday evening released an air force surveillance photograph of a PLA Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft, and said it was monitoring the PLA Rocket Force and ground
China’s Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong has asked foreign consulates in Hong Kong to submit details of their local staff, which is more proof that the “one country, two systems” model no longer exists, a Taiwanese academic said. The office sent letters dated Monday last week to consulates in the territory, giving them one month to submit the information it requires. The move followed Beijing’s attempt to obtain floor plans for all properties used by foreign missions in Hong Kong last year, which raised concerns among diplomats that the information could be used for
‘ABNORMITY’: News of the military exercises on the coast of the Chinese province facing Taiwan were made public by the Ministry of National Defense on Thursday Taiwan’s military yesterday said it has detected the Chinese military initiating a round of exercises at a bay area in coastal Fujian Province, which faces Taiwan, since early yesterday morning and it has been closely monitoring the drills. The exercises being conducted at Fujian’s Dacheng Bay featured an undisclosed number of People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) warplanes, warships and ground troops, the Ministry of National Defense said in a press statement. The ministry did not disclose what kind of military exercises are being conducted there and for how long they would be happening, but it did say that it has been closely watching