The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said that more than 19,000 cases of enterovirus infections were recorded from Oct. 27 to Saturday last week, the highest number for the period in the past 10 years.
Over those seven days, 19,460 people visited emergency departments or outpatient clinics due to enterovirus infections — a 4.7 percent week-on-week increase, CDC spokeswoman Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) told a news conference.
“Enterovirus is highly contagious and is most easily spread in places with close contact and frequent interactions between people such as homes, kindergartens, daycare classes and childcare centers,” the CDC said in a statement.
Photo: Lin Hui-chin, Taipei Times
This year’s unusually severe autumn-winter outbreak might be because many children were not exposed to a wide variety of virus strains during the COVID-19 pandemic, Tseng said.
The CDC spokeswoman said that 265 classes — 25 elementary-school classes, 186 kindergarten classes and 54 others — were suspended in the seven-day period.
The epidemic is expected to peak late this month, but cases would probably remain high through next month, she said.
“The usual seasonal pattern for enterovirus is that outbreaks occur from late March to early April, with the peak in late May to early June,” she said. “After the summer vacation, cases typically decrease, but tend to rise again in September with the start of the school year.”
“However, this year the epidemic persisted through the summer and surged in the autumn and winter, which is unusual,” she said.
The center urged parents to “implement good hygiene” such as washing hands with soap and water, and regularly disinfect home and learning environments.
The CDC said children under the age of five are at “high risk” of severe enterovirus infection, symptoms of which include drowsiness, low energy, weakness or paralysis of hands and feet, muscle twitching or contractions, persistent vomiting and shortness of breath.
“People should pay attention to the early warning signs of severe enterovirus in children” and take them to hospital as soon as possible if symptoms are detected, the CDC said.
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
China Airlines Ltd (CAL) yesterday morning joined SkyTeam’s Aviation Challenge for the fourth time, operating a demonstration flight for “net zero carbon emissions” from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Bangkok. The flight used sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at a ratio of up to 40 percent, the highest proportion CAL has achieved to date, the nation’s largest carrier said. Since April, SAF has become available to Taiwanese international carriers at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), Kaohsiung International Airport and Taoyuan airport. In previous challenges, CAL operated “net zero carbon emission flights” to Singapore and Japan. At a ceremony at Taoyuan airport, China Airlines chief sustainability
‘ONE CHINA’: A statement that Berlin decides its own China policy did not seem to sit well with Beijing, which offered only one meeting with the German official German Minister for Foreign Affairs Johann Wadephul’s trip to China has been canceled, a spokesperson for his ministry said yesterday, amid rising tensions between the two nations, including over Taiwan. Wadephul had planned to address Chinese curbs on rare earths during his visit, but his comments about Berlin deciding on the “design” of its “one China” policy ahead of the trip appear to have rankled China. Asked about Wadephul’s comments, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Guo Jiakun (郭嘉昆) said the “one China principle” has “no room for any self-definition.” In the interview published on Thursday, Wadephul said he would urge China to
RSS