《TAIPEI TIMES》 Premier Su orders disease prevention intensification

By Sean Lin / Staff reporter

Premier Su Tseng-chang （蘇貞昌） yesterday ordered the Ministry of Health and Welfare to implement disease prevention measures on the nation’s borders in response to an outbreak of a pneumonia-like illness in Wuhan, China.

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In light of an expected increase in passenger volume between Taiwan and China ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday later this month, the ministry must step up its disease prevention measures at the border and conduct screening of inbound passengers, Su said.

The ministry should establish a disease prevention emergency response center if necessary, he added.

News of the outbreak had prompted concern that it might be related to the SARS virus, which resulted in about 70 deaths in Taiwan a decade ago.

However, the Chinese-language Liberty Times （the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times） reported that a Chinese woman suspected of having the pneumonia-like illness who had been hospitalized in Hong Kong had tested negative for SARS.

The Chinese government has not yet published the results of its tests and the cause of the outbreak is as yet unclear, Su said.

The premier said that he had ordered government agencies to closely monitor the outbreak and keep the public abreast of the latest developments, while urging the public not to panic.

Su asked Vice Premier Chen Chi-mai （陳其邁） to convene a meeting of the health ministry, the Ministry of the Interior, the National Immigration Agency, the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ocean Affairs Council to come up with emergency response measures, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Kolas Yotaka said.

As of yesterday, 27 cases of a pneumonia-like illness believed to be linked to the outbreak had been confirmed in China, with seven people in critical condition, Centers for Disease Control （CDC） Director-General Chou Jih-haw （周志浩） told a weekly news conference at the Executive Yuan in Taipei.

The CDC had received information on the outbreak on Tuesday and on the same day relayed the information to the WHO, which would notify the CDC of any recommended measures, Chou said.

CDC personnel have since Tuesday boarded inbound flights from Wuhan to screen for the disease and check whether any passengers were experiencing symptoms and, if so, whether they needed treatment, he said.

All passengers had been asked to monitor their health in the 10 days following their arrival and immediately contact the CDC should they exhibit any symptoms that could be linked to the disease, he said.

Two flights have been checked, with a child displaying a mild fever having been ordered to rest at home, he said, adding that the CDC would follow up on the child’s situation.

If Chinese authorities are unable to update the CDC on the outbreak in a timely manner, it would request that specialists be allowed to fly to Wuhan to learn about the situation, he said.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES