Companies that sell thermometers that measure skin temperature and claim they can detect fever are breaking the law and would face fines of up to NT$25 million (US$892,953), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Monday.
Only forehead, ear, oral, armpit and rectal thermometers are approved by the government to measure body temperature and gauge whether a person has a fever, the FDA said.
The government has not approved for medical purposes devices that measure the temperature of the skin using an infrared tympanic thermometer, it said.
Skin temperatures detected by such devices, which are commonly incorporated into sanitizer dispensers at convenience stores, supermarkets and government agencies, can only be used as a reference, because the devices are not approved for medical use, the FDA said.
Hand temperature is easily affected by peripheral circulation or the environment, and varies significantly from true body temperature, FDA Medical Devices and Cosmetics Division specialist Lin Hsin-hui (林欣慧) said.
There are also no clinical trials that prove hand skin temperature is a valid determintor of whether a person has a fever, Lin said.
Importing, manufacturing or selling such devices for medical purposes is illegal, and those who do could face a jail term of up to three years and a fine of up to NT$10 million for contravening the Medical Devices Act (醫療器材管理法), she said.
Those who claim that the devices can be used to check for a fever can be fined NT$600,000 to NT$25 million, she said.
As most people who catch COVID-19 develop a fever in the initial stages of the infection, the FDA urged people to monitor their temperature with a thermometer approved for medical purposes.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to