HEALTH
Monkeypox case reported
A second monkeypox case was reported yesterday after a man declared symptoms of the disease when arriving from the US, said the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The patient, a 30-year-old Taiwanese, visited the US from May to this month and began experiencing symptoms — swelling of the testes, running a fever, swollen lymph nodes in the groin, rashes and diarrhea — as early as July 3, the CDC said. The global monkeypox outbreak, with the first cases reported in the UK in May, has amounted to 9,664 confirmed cases. Taiwan has reported two imported cases of the disease. South Korea has reported one imported case of monkeypox, while Singapore has reported three imported cases and one domestic. The CDC said it has issued a category 2 travel alert for 49 nations, adding that Taiwanese who visit these nations should avoid social contact as much as possible. The CDC added that it is stepping up measures to procure vaccines.
EDUCATION
NTU candidates unveiled
National Taiwan University’s (NTU) Presidential Election Committee yesterday announced the final roster of nine candidates to head the nation’s most prestigious university for the next four years. The nine candidates are all NTU faculty — head of the office of research and development Lee Pai-chi (李百祺); former acting president Kuo Tei-wei (郭大維); College of Engineering dean Chen Wen-chang (陳文章); College of Law professor Chen Tsung-fu (陳聰富); College of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science dean Chang Yao-wen (張耀文); NTU Hospital Yunlin branch superintendent Hwang Juey-jen (黃瑞仁); Department of Library and Information Science professor Huang Mu-hsuan (黃慕瑄); Department of Electrical Engineering professor Benson Yeh (葉丙成); and NTU Cancer Center superintendent James Yang (楊志新). The committee said the candidates would be invited to give a speech on their vision for NTU starting late next month and the University Affairs Committee would begin accepting recommendations and endorsements for the candidates in early September. The University Affairs Committee would complete background checks on candidates in September, meet and discuss with candidates at length their ideas on running the university, and arrange one-on-one interviews with the candidates starting in October. The university expects to have a president-elect by Oct. 8, it added.
HEALTH
Taipei to roll out kids’ jabs
Taipei began accepting online appointments yesterday for COVID-19 vaccination of children aged 6 months to 5 years, in preparation for the rollout of the Moderna brand for that age group next week. About 8,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine for young children are available on the city’s booking Web site through 5pm today and vaccinations are to begin on Thursday next week, said Chang Hui-mei (張惠美), a section head in the Taipei Department of Health. Appointments can also be made at 12 hospitals in Taipei, which would be offering 1,000 shots for young children, also starting on Thursday next week, she said. In addition to the Moderna vaccine, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 is to be administered from Monday next week to July 24, she said. The current round of reservations also includes 62,000 doses of the Novavax, Medigen and Pfizer-BNT vaccines for adults and children, she said. As of Monday, 91.39 percent of the population had received at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, including 76.0 percent in the 5-to-11 age group.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
RSS