HEALTH
Monkeypox drug arrives
Taiwan on Wednesday took delivery of 504 courses of tecovirimat, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The antiviral would be given to monkeypox cases with severe symptoms and those at risk of developing them, CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said. If necessary, the CDC would purchase more courses, he said. Taiwan is also working to finalize a deal to purchase monkeypox vaccines, Chuang said. Taiwan on June 23 designated monkeypox as a category 2 communicable disease, which means that physicians are required to report confirmed or suspected cases to the CDC within 24 hours. To date, two imported cases of the disease have been recorded in Taiwan. The cases had traveled to Germany and the US.
HEALTH
CECC posts 23,822 cases
Taiwan yesterday reported 23,822 new local COVID-19 cases and 62 deaths from the disease, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said. Those who died were aged from their 40s to older than 90. Twenty-four of the deceased were unvaccinated against COVID-19, while 61 had chronic illnesses or other severe diseases, the CECC said. The deceased person who had no chronic illness or other severe diseases was unvaccinated, it added. The CECC said that 55 previously reported cases had become severe, while 88 others had developed moderate symptoms. Among the severe cases are five children, four of whom have been diagnosed with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) and one with pneumonia. The four children with MIS-C are aged from two to nine and include one child who also has acute appendicitis, the CECC said. The four children as of yesterday remained in hospital, it said. The child who has pneumonia is 12 years old and has a genetic neuromuscular disease, requiring them to receive long-term breathing support, it said.
ASTRONOMY
Meteor showers expected
Stargazers are to be able to feast their eyes on five small or medium-sized meteor showers before the end of this month, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said yesterday. Aside from the Perseids, which started on July 7, the four other meteor showers — the Southern Delta Aquariids, Alpha Capricornids, Alpha Pisces Australids and Gamma Draconids — were to reach their peaks by Sunday, the museum said. There would be up to 50 shooting stars per hour, and the best time to see them is between 10pm and sunrise, it added. The Perseids, one of the largest meteor showers of the year along with the Quadrantids in January and the Geminids in December, is to peak on Aug. 13. The museum said it would livestream the meteor showers on YouTube.
CRIME
Illegal clinic operator jailed
A dental lab technician in Changhua County was yesterday sentenced to seven months in jail after he was caught for the third time operating a clinic without a license. The Changhua District Court also ordered the confiscation of about NT$25 million (US$835,338) in earnings from the clinic. The court said the technician, surnamed Yang (楊), in 2016 set up the dental practice in Pitou Township (埤頭), where he offered cavity repair, fillings, root canals and other services, even though he is not a trained dentist. After Yang was in March reported to local authorities, investigators found that he had been prosecuted in 1998 and 2007 for running similar businesses, and received suspended sentences, the court said.
A total lunar eclipse coinciding with the Lantern Festival on March 3 would be Taiwan’s most notable celestial event this year, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said, urging skywatchers not to miss it. There would be four eclipses worldwide this year — two solar eclipses and two lunar eclipses — the museum’s Web site says. Taiwan would be able to observe one of the lunar eclipses in its entirety on March 3. The eclipse would be visible as the moon rises at 5:50pm, already partly shaded by the Earth’s shadow, the museum said. It would peak at about 7:30pm, when the moon would
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday held a ceremony marking the delivery of its 11th Anping-class offshore patrol vessel Lanyu (蘭嶼艦), saying it would boost Taiwan’s ability to respond to Beijing’s “gray zone” tactics. Ocean Affairs Council Deputy Minister Chang Chung-Lung (張忠龍) presided over the CGA event in the Port of Kaoshiung. Representatives of the National Security Council also attended the event. Designed for long-range and protracted patrol operations at sea, the Lanyu is a 65.4m-long and 14.8m-wide ship with a top speed of 44 knots (81.5kph) and a cruising range of 2,000 nautical miles (3704km). The vessel is equipped with a
DEFENSE: The US should cancel the US visas or green cards of relatives of KMT and TPP lawmakers who have been blocking the budget, Grant Newsham said A retired US Marine Corps officer has suggested canceling the US green cards and visas of relatives of opposition Taiwanese lawmakers who have been stalling the review of a proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.7 billion) special defense budget. The Executive Yuan has proposed the budget for major weapons purchases over eight years, from this year to 2033. However, opposition lawmakers have refused to review the proposal, demanding that President William Lai (賴清德) first appear before the Legislative Yuan to answer questions about the proposed budget. On Thursday last week, 37 bipartisan US lawmakers sent a letter to Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the heads
Two siblings in their 70s were injured yesterday when they opened a parcel and it exploded, police in Yilan said, adding the brother and sister were both in stable condition. The two siblings, surnamed Hung (洪), had received the parcel two days earlier but did not open it until yesterday, the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday in Taiwan, police said. Chen Chin-cheng (陳金城), head of the Yilan County Government Police Bureau, said the package bore no postmark or names and was labeled only with the siblings’ address. Citing the findings of a
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