A total of 71 new cases of influenza with complications have been recorded, with four more fatalities, since Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said.
As of Friday, health officials had confirmed 366 flu cases with complications, 18 of which were fatal, it said.
The latest victims were a five-year-old boy in Taoyuan County, a 62-year-old man in Chiayi County, an 85-year-old woman in New Taipei City and a 74-year-old man in Miaoli County, all of who died after contracting Type B or Type AH3 influenza.
None of the individuals who died had been vaccinated, the CDC said.
The CDC said that even though the number of flu cases was half of that recorded in the same period a year ago, there was still a 5 percent mortality rate.
The Department of Health (DOH) advised those infected with the flu virus to stay at home and avoid public places, especially those at high risk of developing flu-related complications, such as infants, toddlers, the elderly and patients with chronic diseases.
In the event that individuals contract such symptoms as fast or labored breathing, bluish or gray skin or lips, chest pain, low blood pressure, thick or blood-streaked sputum and fever lasting for 48 hours or more, they should see a doctor or seek immediate treatment at a hospital, the department said.
A total of 1,727 special influenza clinics have been set up nationwide to fight the virus.
The Taipei Zoo on Saturday said it would pursue legal action against a man who was filmed climbing over a railing to tease and feed spotted hyenas in their enclosure earlier that day. In videos uploaded to social media on Saturday, a man can be seen climbing over a protective railing and approaching a ledge above the zoo’s spotted hyena enclosure, before dropping unidentified objects down to two of the animals. The Taipei Zoo in a statement said the man’s actions were “extremely inappropriate and even illegal.” In addition to monitoring the hyenas’ health, the zoo would collect evidence provided by the public
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
A road safety advocacy group yesterday called for reforms to the driver licensing and retraining system after a pedestrian was killed and 15 other people were injured in a two-bus collision in Taipei. “Taiwan’s driver’s licenses are among the easiest to obtain in the world, and there is no mandatory retraining system for drivers,” Taiwan Vision Zero Alliance, a group pushing to reduce pedestrian fatalities, said in a news release. Under the regulations, people who have held a standard car driver’s license for two years and have completed a driver training course are eligible to take a test
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
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