The Department of Health (DOH) is coordinating with local governments to speed up the installation of facilities for patients suspected of having SARS in 10 regional hospitals around the nation.
Since May 20, the two hospitals assigned to become hospitals for SARS patients in Taipei -- Sanchung Hospital and Sungshan Hospital -- have made available facilities for 92 and 102 SARS patients respectively.
The Chishan Hospital in Kaohsiung County announced yesterday that 49 negative pressure rooms in the hospital will be ready for SARS patients by June 5.
In central Taiwan, the Taichung Military Hospital entrusted to handle SARS cases will begin to accept suspected SARS patients in two weeks when its 44 negative pressure rooms are ready.
The 10 hospitals assigned to accommodate suspected SARS patients are the Taipei Municipal Hoping Hospital and the Sungshan Military Hospital in Taipei City, Sanchung Hospital in Taipei County, the Taichung Military Hospital and Chunghsing Hospital in central Taiwan, the Tainan Military Hospital, Pingtung Military Hospital and Chishan Hospital in southern Taiwan, and the Hualien Military Hospital and Taitung Hospital in eastern Taiwan.
These hospitals will only handle suspected SARS cases, while the more critical probable SARS patients will be treated by research hospitals.
Since many of the hospitals do not have doctors specializing in infectious diseases or the respiratory system, the medical authorities are arranging special training programs for doctors and nurses.
Meanwhile, in Kaohsiung City, the city government has coordinated with the military to set up a suspected SARS-patient screening unit at a barracks for marines at Tsoying. The 41 negative pressure rooms, to be ready today, will accommodate patients transferred from nearby hospitals, although critical SARS patients will not be accepted.
Serving as a mid-way house for suspected SARS patients, the screening unit will only treat suspected SARS patients. Should a patient's situation deteriorate, the unit will transfer the patient to a research hospital.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during