National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) yesterday held a celebration for patients with severe symptoms of COVID-19 who have recovered from the disease, including a middle-aged man who was at death’s door at one point.
Since it started admitting COVID-19 patients on Jan. 23, the Taipei hospital has treated 17 patients, including three who were diagnosed with severe respiratory failure and six with pneumonia. The rest had less severe symptoms.
One man in his 50s who wished to remain anonymous was among the three cases of severe respiratory failure, Intensive Care Ward director Ku Shih-chi (古世基) told a news conference.
Photo: Yang Yuan-ting, Taipei Times
The patient, who has a history of smoking and is a cancer survivor, had complained of diarrhea and weakness since the end of March, Ku said, adding that the man had been transferred to the hospital on April 5 after his pneumonia worsened and he required intubation.
The patient suffered from other complications, including acute respiratory insufficiency and low blood oxygen, necessitating his being put on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and given anti-cytokine treatment to combat the “cytokine storm,” a result of excessive cytokines released to combat the Sars-CoV-2 virus, Ku said.
The man also underwent dialysis due to a complication of renal failure during the treatment process, Ku said.
“Doctors predicted that the patient had a mortality risk of 85 percent,” but with interdepartmental collaboration and more than 75 days of hospitalization, he was able to pull through, Ku said.
Despite having fibrosis on both lung lobes due to severe pneumonia, which severely affected his ability to breathe normally, the man was proclaimed sufficiently recovered to be discharged earlier his month.
The patient thanked the doctors profusely for helping him recover within such a short period.
The patient said he was quite moved by the medical personnel, who lined both sides of the hall when he was escorted out of the negative pressure isolation ward and cheered him on, saying: “You can do it!”
“I felt I must attend this news conference to personally thank all medical personnel for helping people like me,” the patient said.
National Taiwan University vice president Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳) said that the COVID-19 mortality rate in Taiwan is low due to the nation’s excellent medical care.
Chang, who is also convener of the advisory specialist panel of the government’s Central Epidemic Command Center, thanked the hospital for its assistance in examining more than 10,000 individuals and taking some of the burden off the government’s shoulders.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
‘POOP ON STAGE’: The song, which talks about the reluctance to graduate and anxiety about a lack of job opportunities, resonated with many students’ feelings The original song Poop on Stage has been chosen as National Taiwan University’s (NTU) graduation song this year, sparking much debate regarding the song’s title and content, which describes students’ anxiety about post-graduation unemployment. The title, Shang Tai Da Bian (上台大便), is a play on words that literally means “go on stage to poop.” The first three characters, shang tai da (上台大), also mean “to attend NTU,” as “Taida” is a common abbreviation for the university. The last character, bian (便), can mean “convenient” or “then,” but is more commonly associated with defecation. The lyrics of the song describe students’ reluctance to graduate and
RSS