The Department of Health (DOH) reported yesterday a four-year-old girl might have been infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
Lee Lung-teng (
As no probable SARS cases had been reported from last Thursday to Monday, the DOH said on Monday it expected Taiwan could be removed from the World Health Organization's list of SARS-affected areas shortly.
However, the appearance of four more probable cases of SARS yesterday has dashed the expectation. The girl was one of four new probable cases, Lee said.
Lee said the girl's father was also a probable SARS case. "The girl's father was discharged from the hospital on March 31. The girl began to experience a fever after her father returned home," Lee said.
On April 3, the girl had high fever of 38.6?C. Her doctor administered antibiotics and the medication worked well. She was discharged from the hospital last Friday, Lee said.
Lee said although the girl has recovered from her illness, the specialist team of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) tackling SARS still decided to list her as a probable case.
The team decided to list the child as a probable SARS case for three reasons. "First, she has had close contact with another SARS case [her father]. Second, she had high fever and she had pneumonia symptoms," Lee said.
Nevertheless, Huang Fu-yuan (
"The CDC had been closely observing the child even before she fell ill because she was a family member of a probable SARS case," Huang said.
Huang noted in order to efficiently contain the spread of SARS, Taiwan has imposed stricter isolation measures than required by the WHO.
The WHO recommends that all SARS cases should be put under domestic quarantine for seven days after they are discharged from hospitals because the cases might still continue to spread the disease after their recovery.
"The CDC asked all probable SARS cases discharged from hospitals to stay under home quarantine for 14 days, twice the duration demanded by the WHO," Huang said.
According to the CDC, 158 possible SARS cases have been reported as of yesterday afternoon, of which 27 are probable cases and 42 suspected cases. Seventy-nine cases have been ruled out as SARS and 10 cases are still to be verified, the CDC said.
DEATH THREAT: A MAC official said that it has urged Beijing to avoid creating barriers that would impede exchanges across the Strait, but it continues to do so People should avoid unnecessary travel to China after Beijing issued 22 guidelines allowing its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death “Taiwan independence separatists,” the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday as it raised its travel alert for China, including Hong Kong and Macau, to “orange.” The guidelines published last week “severely threaten the personal safety of Taiwanese traveling to China, Hong Kong and Macau,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a news conference in Taipei. “Following a comprehensive assessment, the government considers it necessary to elevate the travel alert to orange from yellow,” Liang said. Beijing has
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday said that the Chinese Communist Party was planning and implementing “major” reforms, ahead of a political conclave that is expected to put economic recovery high on the agenda. Chinese policymakers have struggled to reignite growth since late 2022, when restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted. The world’s second-largest economy is beset by a debt crisis in the property sector, persistently low consumption and high unemployment among young people. Policymakers “are planning and implementing major measures to further deepen reform in a comprehensive manner,” Xi said in a speech at the Great Hall
CIVIL DEFENSE: More reservists in alternative service would help establish a sound civil defense system for use in wartime and during natural disasters, Kuma Academy’s CEO said While a total of 120,000 reservists are expected to be called up for alternative reserve drills this year, compared with the 6,505 drilled last year, the number has been revised to 58,000 due to a postponed training date, Deputy Minster of the Interior Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said. In principle, the ministry still aims to call up 120,000 reservists for alternative reserve drills next year, he said, but the actual number would not be decided later until after this year’s evaluation. The increase follows a Legislative Yuan request that the Ministry of the Interior address low recruitment rates, which it made while reviewing
SOLUTIONS NEEDED: Taiwan must attract about 400,000 to 500,000 skilled foreign workers due to population decline, the minister of economic affairs said in Washington President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration is considering a plan to import labor to deal with an impending shortage of engineers and other highly skilled workers, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said in Washington on Tuesday. Kuo was leading a delegation attending the SelectUSA Investment Summit. Taiwan must attract about 400,000 to 500,000 skilled foreign workers for high-end manufacturing jobs by 2040, he said. Ministry of Economic Affairs officials are still calculating the precise number of workers that are needed, as it works on loosening immigration restrictions and creating incentives, Kuo said. Taiwanese firms operating factories in the US and other countries would