Taiwan reported its sixth A(H1N1) death yesterday, a 10-year-old boy.
The boy was from Taitung County’s Dongshih Township (東勢), said Hsiao Chun-ying (蕭春櫻), acting chief of the county’s health bureau.
He was sent with flu symptoms to the Taichung Veterans General Hospital on Aug. 26 and was diagnosed with swine flu yesterday morning. He developed complications from pneumonia and died later yesterday, Hsiao said.
“We are trying to figure out how he was infected.” he said.
Nine more people were hospitalized yesterday with A(H1N1), bringing the total number to 104, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said.
CDC Director-General Steve Kuo (郭旭崧) said it was difficult to predict when the flu outbreak would reach its peak.
The seasonal flu usually peaks in January, but the outbreak of H1N1 could advance or delay the peak of the flu season, he said.
In preparation for this winter’s flu season, the Department of Health will from next month offer free inoculations against seasonal flu to groups considered at high risk of infection, such as children, the elderly and healthcare workers.
Inoculation against H1N1 will begin in mid-November, with pregnant women, healthcare workers, schoolchildren and teens as the priority recipients, Kuo said.
Kuo said there was no indication that it would be unsafe to receive both flu shots.
In related news, the National Communications Commission (NCC) said it would soon submit a proposal to the Executive Yuan about the possibilities of enlisting the help of TV stations to allow students to continue schooling if swine flu forces schools to shut down completely.
NCC spokesperson Chen Jeng-chang (陳正倉) said three broadcasting laws — the Cable Television Act (有線電視法), the Broadcasting and Television Act (廣播電視法) and the Satellite Broadcasting Act (衛星廣播電視法) — authorize the government to use TV channels to broadcast crucial information about emergency situations during designated hours.
The government does not have to pay the stations for the service.
The government has used this right during the SARS outbreak and during search and rescue efforts following Typhoon Morakot.
The health department requires schools to close for five days if two or more students in the same class come down with H1N1 within three days of each other.
“But if the disease spreads faster and more schools have to close, then students may need to have class via TV or radio,” Chen said.
The Ministry of Education has suggested the classes could be offered on Taiwan Indigenous TV (原住民電視台), Hakka TV (客家電視台), the Chinese Television System (華視) and the Public Television Service (公視).
The NCC proposed the plan should be expanded to include more terrestrial and cable channels.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
TAKE BREAKS: A woman developed cystitis by refusing to get up to use the bathroom while playing mahjong for fear of disturbing her winning streak, a doctor said People should stand up and move around often while traveling or playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year holiday, as prolonged sitting can lead to cystitis or hemorrhoids, doctors said. Yuan’s General Hospital urologist Lee Tsung-hsi (李宗熹) said that he treated a 63-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙) who had been sitting motionless and holding off going to the bathroom, increasing her risk of bladder infection. Chao would drink beverages and not urinate for several hours while playing mahjong with friends and family, especially when she was on a winning streak, afraid that using the bathroom would ruin her luck, he said. She had
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
RSS