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.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
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