The Taipei City Government made a number of mistakes when it sealed off Taipei Municipal Hoping Hospital to contain an outbreak of SARS there late last month, members of a Control Yuan panel investigating the issue said yesterday.
"The blockade decision revealed three problems," said Chao Chang-ping (
Chao made the remarks in a press conference after the Control Yuan's investigation committee finalized the meeting with Wu Kang-wen (
The Control Yuan questioned whether the decision was made without considering the hospital's situation, such as how many patients, family members and staff members would be left in the hospital and whether they would be given sufficient care during the quarantine, a Control Yuan member said.
Chao said the investigation committee found that the authorities failed to set up a command center right after deciding to impose the quarantine order.
"The lack of an efficient and timely response system might have caused the quarantine measures to be implemented haphazardly."
Six of the seven reported SARS cases that were disclosed by the hospital during the first outbreak were staff members, Chao said, adding that a further investigation will be needed to find out why there was such a high infection rate among hospital personnel.
Chao's colleague Chang Te-ming (張德銘) said the hospital's administration needs to explain the measures adopted after receiving the central health department's reminder about the pneumonia-like epidemic in mid-March.
"The committee's probe will go deep to the city government and the hospital administration's handling of SARS prevention measures between March 14 and April 12, when the first suspected SARS case was revealed at the hospital," Chang said.
He confirmed that the Control Yuan will cope with the issue when it questions former Taipei City Health Bureau Director Chiu Shu-ti (
Chang expressed doubt that the quarantine could have further exacerbated those patients who were being treated for serious illnesses when the quarantine order was announced.
Liao Jiann-nan (廖健男), another Control Yuan member on the investigation committee, said the Control Yuan's investigation will focus on the how the hospital reported and recorded its SARS cases.
"The hospital's reporting system could be problematic, since we learned from the former hospital superintendent's statement that a superintendent would not be involved in the reporting procedure whereas doctors should be the ones who take responsibility for the late reporting of cases," Liao said.
Earlier yesterday, the ad hoc committee met with Chen Tzay-jinn (
"It is regrettable that the government was unable to make a timely response to the outbreak regarding emergency measures and risk management," Chao said after meeting with the former CDC chief.
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man