Two officials of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (USCDC) based in Thailand arrived in Taiwan yesterday to help study the cause of Taiwan's three atypical pneumonia cases.
The USCDC officials are Scott Dowell, director of the International Emerging Infections Program, and Sonja Olsen, chief of the epidemiology section of the program.
Both attended a press conference in Taiwan's Center for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday afternoon with Twu Shiing-jer (
PHOTO: LIAO RAY-SHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
Dowell and Olsen made no comments yesterday on the three cases of atypical pneumonia Taiwan has already experienced.
Chen, however, quoted the US officials as saying that according to the medical history and clinical status of the three cases, the cause of their illness is "probably the same" as that of the atypical pneumonia cases in other southeast Asian countries.
According to Chen, blood and saliva specimens taken from the three patients will be sent to the USCDC for further examination.
Meanwhile, with three atypical pneumonia cases reported on Friday and Saturday, the DOH called yesterday for the public to remain calm and not to be in a rush to buy surgical masks.
The first two cases, a China-based Taiwanese businessman and his wife, were admitted to National Taiwan University Hospital and the third case, a 64-year-old woman, was sent to Ilan Hospital.
Twu said the hospitals and the CDC are in the process of verifying which virus caused the three cases.
Both the businessman and the 64-year-old woman were traveling in China's Guangdong Province in February. Twu said it was yet to be decided whether their sickness was related to their trips.
"Both began to have symptoms about a week after their return to Taiwan. The incubation period for their disease is different from ordinary flu," Twu said.
The CDC said it had reported the three cases to the World Health Organization (WHO) and asked people to avoid trips to Hong Kong, China, Vietnam and Singapore.
The Geneva-based WHO said that in the past week it had received more than 150 reports worldwide of the atypical pneumonia, which it has called "Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)."
The WHO issued an emergency travel advisory to travelers and airlines on Saturday.
According to the statement, the WHO has received reports of more than 150 new suspected cases of SARS from Canada, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam over the past week.
The statement advised travelers including airline crew to be aware of the following symptoms and signs of SARS: a high fever (above 38?C) and one or more respiratory symptoms, including cough, shortness of breath, difficulty in breathing, and one or more of the following: close contact with a person who has been diagnosed with SARS or recent history of travel to areas reporting cases of SARS.
"In the unlikely event of a traveler experiencing this combination of symptoms they should seek medical attention and ensure that information about their recent travel is passed on to the health care staff," the statement said.
"Any traveler who develops these symptoms is advised not to undertake further travel until they have recovered," said the statement.
Chen yesterday urged the public, hospital staff, airlines and travel agencies to abide by the WHO's advisory.
Twu said yesterday that though Taiwan had asked for help from the WHO, the organization had refused Taiwan's request. This was unfair not only for the people of Taiwan but, given the transnational nature of the infection, the people of the world at large, Twu said.
Chen said the three cases were all staying in isolation wards. According to Chen, many hospitals across the island have advanced isolation wards that can handle similar infectious cases.
To contain the infectious disease, National Taiwan University Hospital has upgraded isolation measures in the couple's ward to biosafety level 3 (BSL3).
According to the USCDC's definition, BSL3 is applicable to clinical or diagnostic facilities in which "work is done with indigenous or exotic agents which may cause serious or potentially lethal disease as a result of exposure by the inhalation route."
Chen said that the CDC had obtained a budget to develop wards that can handle BSL4 -- the ultimate level -- conditions. Currently, only a few countries possess such advanced wards.
STRAIGHTENED OUT: The foreign ministry did not disclose the names of the 22 global carriers, as China might again pressure them into reversing course Twenty-two international airlines have corrected the way they refer to Taiwan on their booking Web sites, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said in response to a written inquiry by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉). Beijing in 2018 began requiring airlines that fly to Chinese airports to refer to Taiwan in their booking systems as “Taiwan, China” or “Taiwan Area.” Although there are still 39 airlines that refer to Taiwan in one of these two ways, 22 companies have corrected their systems to refer to the nation as “Taiwan,” Chiu said on Saturday, citing the ministry. However, it would
COVID-19 TOLL: The CECC reported zero new infections for the fourth straight day, but confirmed one death, a man in his 40s who had been hospitalized since March As the spread of COVID-19 appears to be slowing in Taiwan, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) is considering easing restrictions over indoor activities, such as allowing gatherings of up to 250 people, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said yesterday. Such an easing would allow wedding banquets with 30 tables, with eight people per table, and each table 1.5m apart, he said. The center is discussing with information security departments how to protect personal data if diners are required to register their names when visiting restaurants, he said. It is also considering issuing a safety
CHINESE COMPLAINT: Chung Yuan Christian University intimidated him into making an apology in front of his class and set the terms for the apology, Chao Ming-wei said A Chung Yuan Christian University associate professor yesterday said he was forced to apologize to a class after a complaint from a Chinese student about remarks he made on the origin of COVID-19 and for saying that he was from the “Republic of China (ROC) Taiwan.” Chao Ming-wei (招名威), an associate professor in the bioscience technology department, told a news conference in Taipei organized by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Mark Ho (何志偉) that during a class on March 13, he postulated that the novel coronavirus came from Wuhan, China, raised doubts about the death tolls released by Chinese authorities and spoke
PREVENTION LIFESTYLE: Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung dedicated the good news to mothers, but once again warned the public against complacency No new COVID-19 cases were reported yesterday, marking the 28th day with no domestic cases reported in the nation, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said yesterday. “Today is also Mother’s Day, so we would like to present our record of no domestic cases having been reported in 28 consecutive days as a gift for all mothers, hoping that everyone can feel safer,” said Chen, who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC). However, people should not let their guard down and should thoroughly practice the “new disease prevention lifestyle” to achieve an even higher level of safety, he said. “Our