Eight Taiwanese wind musicians who are attending an international music festival in Jeju Island, South Korea, tested positive for the A(H1N1) flu virus on Monday, South Korean health authorities said yesterday.
Six other Taiwanese wind instrument players were put under observation on Monday after they developed fevers, the authorities said.
Five Malaysians who were also attending the 2009 International Wind Instrument Festival on Jeju Island were the first participants to test positive for the A(H1N1) flu strain on Sunday, South Korean health authorities said.
ONGOING
Meanwhile, the Central Epidemic Command Center said yesterday that approximately 9,000 new people are confirmed with A(H1N1) influenza each week, saying it recommended canceling classes should an infection occur.
SCHOOLS
A kindergarten, elementary school, junior high school, high school or cram school class should be canceled for five days if more than two students are confirmed as infected within three days, said the center’s spokesman Lin Ting (林頂), emphasizing that the measure applied to all types of flu.
MILITARY
Meanwhile, Lin confirmed that 81 out of 2,000 rookies at a Ministry of the Interior boot camp for alternative military service in Taichung’s Chengkungling (成功嶺) army base tested positive for the A(H1N1) flu virus after a screening test.
From July 1 through yesterday, there have been 43 swine flu cluster infections and 25 severe cases.
Among those 25 severe cases, two patients had died, three remained in intensive care, one other was in hospital, while 19 were released after making a complete recovery.
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
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
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
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