The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday said there has been increased bulk buying of Panadol pain relief medicine, causing a shortage in the market, but people who need the medicine are recommended to buy pain relief medicine that contains the same ingredient — acetaminophen — from other brands.
In a Cabinet meeting for COVID-19 prevention and response yesterday morning, the CECC said that although the Chinese government stopped releasing comprehensive data on new cases on Tuesday last week, many news outlets reported a shortage in fever and pain-relief drugs, as well as traditional herbal medicines, indicating an increase in the number of people with fever, so it is likely that COVID-19 cases are rising in China.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs has observed more people applying to renew their passports, and many people are expected to travel abroad or return to Taiwan from the year’s end to around the Lunar New Year next month, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said.
Photo: CNA
Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝), who heads the center, said the center had seen an increase in bulk buying of Panadol, a common drug for reducing pain and fever, and it has contacted the brand’s distributor in Taiwan to ask it to increase its supply, but the distributor said Panadol is in tight supply in other countries too.
There are 47 permits for producing drugs with acetaminophen held by several drug companies, so people can buy the medicine produced by other brands if they cannot find Panadol, he said.
However, Wang urged people to only buy acetaminophen when needed, and to avoid buying the medicine in bulk.
The CECC yesterday reported 10,317 new local COVID-19 cases — 4.7 percent lower than that on Monday last week — as well as 48 imported cases and 23 deaths.
Wang said 107,315 local cases were confirmed last week, 6.7 percent higher than the week before, so whether the weekly cases continue to fluctuate, or start to escalate into another wave, is uncertain and requires further observation.
Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division, said that of the 23 deceased, 16 had not been vaccinated.
Of the genome sequenced cases last week, 84 percent of the local cases were infected with the Omicron BA.5 subvariant of SARS-CoV-2, which remains the dominant strain in Taiwan, he said.
Although BA.5 infections accounted for 38 percent of the sequenced imported cases last week, 29 percent were infected with BA.2.75 and 17 percent were infected with BQ.1, he said.
Regarding whether new subvariants could enter Taiwan from China, where cases are surging, Lo said two sequenced imported cases from China last week were infected with the BF.7 strain, which has mainly been reported near Beijing, and another with BA.5.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS