The Center for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported a fourth suspected SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) patient in Chiayi.
According to the CDC, the fourth case, a male, was traveling in Guangdong Province between March 4 and March 6 and returned to Taiwan via Hong Kong.
The man began to display SARS symptoms on March 13 and was admitted to hospital on March 17.
The local health department in Chiayi reported the case to the CDC yesterday afternoon, said CDC Director-General Chen Tsai-ching (陳再晉).
"So far we have received eight reports of SARS cases. But after checks the CDC has found four of these were not SARS," Chen said.
According to Tsai, the first two cases are now in National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) and the third case is in Ilan Hospital.
"Two of the cases have stabilized and have obvious improvements. One of them has not have any fever over the past three days," Chen said.
He added that specimens taken from the patients have been sent to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (USCDC) for further testing.
Premier Yu Shyi-kun yesterday pledged to study the possibility and necessity of offering direct charter flight services to China-based Taiwanese businesspeople to help them return home without having to pass through Hong Kong and Macao, where SARS cases have been reported as well.
"I'm calling on airline travelers not to worry much about the three possible cases of SARS, because the ventilation system of most passenger planes can efficiently change 50 percent of the air every three minutes," Yu said during a question-and-answer session in the legislature.
Yu made the remark in response to a question filed by PFP Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方), who asked about the Cabinet's plans for direct cross-strait flights.
Yu also said that the government does not care what name Taiwan uses to enter the WHO as long as it successfully gains accession to the organization.
"It doesn't matter whether we join the WHO as the Republic of China or Taiwan. What really matters is we're included in the world's health system," Yu said.
The premier made the remark in response to a question from TSU legislative leader Chien Lin Whei-jun (錢林慧君), who asked Yu for his view on the WHO's repeated rejection of Taipei's bid to join the organization.
Department of Health Director-General Twu Shiing-jer (涂醒哲) added that the problem lies not with Taiwan but with China, which has made continuous efforts to exclude Taiwan from the international community..
Also See Story:
DPP calls direct-flight plan irrational
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
US PUBLICATION: The results indicated a change in attitude after a 2023 survey showed 55 percent supported full-scale war to achieve unification, the report said More than half of Chinese were against the use of force to unify with Taiwan under any circumstances, a survey conducted by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center and Emory University found. The survey results, which were released on Wednesday in a report titled “Sovereignty, Security, & US-China Relations: Chinese Public Opinion,” showed that 55.1 percent of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed that “the Taiwan problem should not be resolved using force under any circumstances,” while 24.5 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” disagreed with the statement. The results indicated a change in attitude after a survey published in “Assessing Public Support for (Non)Peaceful Unification
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
Four former Hong Kong opposition lawmakers jailed in the territory’s largest national security case were released yesterday after more than four years in prison, the first among dozens convicted last year to regain their freedom. Former legislators Claudia Mo (毛孟靜), Jeremy Tam (譚文豪), Kwok Ka-ki (郭家麒) and Gary Fan (范國威) were part of a group of 47 public figures — including some of Hong Kong’s best-known democracy advocates — who were charged with subversion in 2021 for holding an informal primary election. The case fell under a National Security Law imposed on the territory by Beijng, and drew international condemnation and warnings
RSS