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.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
RSS