Taiwan yesterday set up an epidemic response command center to contain the spread of a new coronavirus, which was first discovered in Wuhan, China.
With the novel coronavirus 2019 (2019-nCoV) infection spreading to other Asian nations and many people expected to return from China during the Lunar New Year holiday, the Executive Yuan yesterday afternoon approved a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) plan to establish a level 3 National Health Command Center, CDC Director-General Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) said.
The command center, led by Chou, is to be in charge of holding cross-ministerial discussions to improve preventive measures against “severe pneumonia with novel pathogens” in the nation.
Photo courtesy of the Nantou County Government
Taiwan currently has 44 million surgical masks and 1.9 million N95 masks, more than enough to meet demand, Chou said.
The CDC urged passengers returning from Wuhan or nearby areas who have a fever, cough or other illnesses, to report to the CDC’s airport quarantine stations regardless of whether they have taken medicine to relieve the symptoms.
People who develop a fever or respiratory symptoms within 14 days after returning from Wuhan or nearby areas should also report it to the CDC’s hotline (1922), wear a surgical mask and seek immediate medical attention.
A new confirmed case of a passenger from Wuhan detected with “severe pneumonia with novel pathogens” was reported on Sunday, CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said yesterday.
The boy had a fever and diarrhea when he arrived from Wuhan, Chuang said.
He was not exposed to livestock and had not visited the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuham, but his symptoms met the clinical definition for severe pneumonia with novel pathogens that necessitated a mandatory report to the CDC, Chuang said.
The boy tested negative for influenza viruses and also negative for 2019-nCoV in the first test, and he is to undergo a second test for the 2019-nCoV today, he added.
Another case reported on Saturday showed negative results for 2019-nCoV in two tests and was found to be an influenza type A (H3N2) virus infection, he said.
Separately, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said that ministry officials overseeing airports, seaports, airlines and tourism have been asked to be on alert and work closely with the CDC on inspection and quarantine efforts at border controls to prevent the spread of the virus from China.
The Civil Aeronautics Administration on Sunday officially notified Taiwanese airlines, as well as those in China, Hong Kong and Macau offering flights to and from Taiwan, that they should broadcast information onboard about the virus before landing in the nation, the ministry said.
All Taiwanese airlines and five Hong Kong and Macau-based airlines have started airing such information on board, it added.
Shandong Airlines (山東航空) said it would start broadcasting such information on Thursday next week, the ministry said, adding that other Chinese airlines are waiting for the instructions from headquarters on when the broadcast would be available.
For flights arriving from Wuhan, both the jet bridges and flight arrival areas would be sterilized after all cabin crew have disembarked from the plane, the ministry said.
The Tourism Bureau has also informed the Travel Agents’ Association, the Association of Tour Managers and other travel associations that it has issued a “yellow” alert for areas surrounding Wuhan per instructions from the Mainland Affairs Council, meaning that the public should beware of their own safety and reconsider whether the trip is necessary, the ministry said.
The associations should ensure that cross-strait travelers and travel agents are aware of the disease and take precautionary actions to avoid contracting it, the ministry said.
Information about the disease would be shown at airports and seaports using multimedia electronic bulletin boards, news tickers and print advertisements, it said.
Airports and seaports should also have cleaning and sterilizing procedures to contain the spread of the disease once the CDC has identified passengers who might have contracted the disease, it added.
Additional reporting by CNA
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft