Page Three

Taiwan announces Dengue Treatment Centers, 600 more cases reported

Outbreak News
Date: September 18, 2015
By: Robert Herriman
Robert Herriman is a microbiologist and the Editor-in-Chief of Outbreak News Today and the Executive Editor of The Global Dispatch

Welfare Tainan Hospital, Tainan Municipal Hospital, Tainan Municipal An-Nan Hospital,

Image/CDC

and Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital Tainan Branch have been designated as Dengue Treatment Centers would be in charge of treating certain dengue cases (Group B), the Taiwan CDC said Friday.

The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) for Dengue Outbreak implemented the World Health Organization’s classification for dengue cases to classify patients into Group A, B and C to deal with the surge of patients in some hospitals.

A Group B classification dengue case are patients who should be referred for in-hospital management.

According to the WHO:

Patients may need to be admitted to a secondary health care center for close observation, particularly as they approach the critical phase. These include patients with warning signs, those with co-existing conditions that may make dengue or its management more complicated (such as pregnancy, infancy, old age, obesity, diabetes mellitus, renal failure, chronic hemolytic diseases), and those with certain social circumstances (such as living alone, or living far from a health facility without reliable means of transport).

In addition, six medical centers and medical officers from the Taiwan CDC will form a medical care advisory committee to advise the hospitals in Tainan City about the appropriate administration of health and medical care services in order to classify, diagnose and treat patients accordingly.

On Thursday, 617 additional dengue cases were reported bringing the country total to 11,623 indigenous cases.

The southern city of Tainan has eclipsed the 10,000 mark in dengue cases (10,127).

To date, a cumulative total of 25 deaths were found to be linked with dengue infection. 30 deaths, including 27 from Tainan City, 2 from Kaohsiung City, and 1 from Pingtung County, are still waiting to be reviewed.

Taiwan’s Youth Ambassadors Shines in Wellington

Scoop Independent News
Date: 18 September 2015

The 2015 Youth Ambassadors delegation from Taiwan performed at Wellington Chinese Sports and Culture Centre on Saturday, 5 September. Throughout their 90-minute show, entitled Energetic New Taiwan, the talented 16-member group wowed the audience with their beautiful singing, dancing and costumes. Clare and Joseph, the charming hosts, gave the audience an entertaining introduction of the modern Taiwan, its natural environment, cuisine, cultures, and hi-tech industries.

These youth ambassadors were selected from thousands of university students in Taiwan, following a comprehensive process and rigorous training. During their 4-day visit to New Zealand’s capital city, they also met with other university students and were given a tour to the Parliament, Te Papa and Weta Workshop.

The Ambassadors Exchange Program, established by the government of Taiwan in 2009, offers an opportunity for talented Taiwanese youth to participate in international affairs and broaden their horizons, and to introduce Taiwan to friends from around the world as a provider of humanitarian aid, promoter of cultural exchanges, and standard-bearer for Chinese culture.

The theme of this year’s Youth Ambassadors Exchange Program is “Youth from Taiwan, Compassion for All.” A total of 160 youth ambassadors were selected and divided into 10 groups who will visit 41 cities in 35 countries including Asia-Pacific region, North America, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe and Africa during this month.

Former science education center chief sentenced

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-09-18
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A former chairman of the National Taiwan Science Education Center and a friend were sentenced to long prison terms Friday in a corruption scandal surrounding the center’s new home.

The new building is a major draw for tourists and students in the Taipei City district of Shihlin.

The center’s former director, Hsu Kuo-tu, was sentenced to seven years and six months and a close friend, Tung Su-chen, to eight years and six months for allegedly helping companies to reap illegal profits totaling NT$83.87 million (US$2.59 million).

An attorney who acted as the center’s adviser at the time, Chen Kai-sheng, can choose to pay a fine instead of serving two months in prison, reports said. Three business people received sentences ranging from one-and-a-half to two-and-a-half months, suspended for two years, and also replaceable by fines. They also had to pay the treasury separate sums ranging from NT$38,000 (US$1,100) to NT$65,000 (US$2,000), reports said.

One businessman was still on the run while other defendants were found not guilty in the case which spent six years working its way through the judicial system. [FULL STORY]

Taiwan raises travel alert for Burkina Faso after military coup

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/09/18
By: Elaine Hou

Taipei, Sept. 18 (CNA) Taiwan raised its travel alert for Burkina Faso on Friday from yellow to orange, the second highest in its four-color alert system, after the country’s presidential guards carried out a coup just weeks before national elections.

Presidential guards burst into a Cabinet meeting at the presidential palace in the capital Ouagadougou and took the interim president, prime minister and other senior officials hostage Wednesday, and later announced that they had been removed from office.

The latest political unrest sparked violence in the streets, and the presidential guards fired live ammunition to disperse crowds protesting the coup, leaving at least six dead and dozens injured as of Friday morning, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Burkina Faso’s land and air borders have been closed and a curfew has been imposed, the ministry said. Burkina Faso is one of Taiwan’s three diplomatic allies in Africa. [FULL STORY]

Noble Prize laureate hails Taiwan’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions

Want China Times
Date: 2015-09-18
By: CNA

A Nobel Peace Prize laureate Thursday lauded Taiwan’s efforts to reduce carbon

Hans Joachim Schellnhuber gives a speech in Taipei, Sept. 17. (Photo/Tang Ya-wen)

emissions, which he said have contributed to global sustainable development.

German professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, an expert in climate change and the winner of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, made the remarks on the sidelines of a conference on climate change organized by the Administration of Environmental Protection in Taipei.

Schellnhuber, founder and director of the German-based Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, said despite not being a party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Taiwan has shown its determination to reduce carbon emissions in the nation by enacting a series of measures and legislation in line with the related international protocols.

The visiting German expert suggested that the exploration of offshore wind power generation is a suitable option for Taiwan. [FULL STORY]

Support for Ma remains low: poll

PAN-BLUE BLUES:The president garnered an approval rating of only 21.9%, while his party drew a dissatisfaction rating of 71.8%, a Taiwan Brain Trust poll showed

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 19, 2015
By: Lee Hsin-fang and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) and Premier Mao Chih-kuo’s (毛治國) approval ratings

The Taiwan Brain Trust releases a poll at a press conference in Taipei yesterday showing that Premier Mao Chih-kuo’s approval rating continues to decline. Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times

remained low at 21.9 percent and 19.3 percent respectively, according to the newest poll by the Taiwan Brain Trust think tank.

In direct correlation to their low popularity, dissatisfaction with Ma and Mao stood at 69.9 percent and 57.4 percent respectively, the survey released yesterday showed.

The widespread public dissatisfaction with the Ma administration was also reflected in their dissatisfaction with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which stood at 71.8 percent.

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) garnered a more favorable 42.3 percent satisfaction rating, but 45 percent also said they were dissatisfied with the party’s performance.

The poll found that 54.5 percent of respondents were confident about the DPP’s ability to maintain peaceful development of cross-strait relations should it win the presidential election next year, while 36 percent were unconvinced. [FULL STORY]

Dengue fever tops daily record with 622 new cases

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-09-17
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The dengue fever epidemic broke the daily record in dengue contraption nationwide this

Dengue fever tops daily record with 622. Central News Agency

year with 622 new cases on Wednesday, according to the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) Central Epidemic Command Center on Thursday.

Tainan alone saw an increase of 531 new cases on Wednesday, according to the command center’s statistics.

CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang said the record rise was attributed to the new cases been recorded in Kaohsiung, as the southern port city appears to be showing signs of worsening.

As of Wednesday, the number of dengue fever cases recorded in Taiwan since the start of summer this year has surged to 11,006. Following the reported cases of 9,634 in Tainan to date, Kaohsiung had 1,135 cases, while other neighboring cities and counties had far fewer, CDC data showed. [FULL STORY]

NPM southern branch to open with jadeite cabbage display

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/09/17
By: Christie Chen

Taipei, Sept. 17 (CNA) The National Palace Museum (NPM)’s most popular item – the Jadeite Cabbage with Insects – will go on display at the trial opening of the museum’s southern branch in Chiayi on Dec. 28.

The Jadeite Cabbage with Insects, the NPM’s signature piece, will be exhibited at the southern branch from Dec. 28 this year to Oct. 2, 2016, NPM Director Fung Ming-chu (馮明珠), announced during a media tour of the almost completed museum building in Chiayi.

The jadeite carving, 18.7 cm long and 9.1 cm wide, is a Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) piece that was originally housed in Yonghe Palace in Beijing’s Forbidden City.

It is believed to have been a dowry gift for Guangxu Emperor’s Consort Jin to symbolize purity and a fertility blessing, as a locust and katydid on the cabbage represent children. [FULL STORY]

Guangdong city suffers dengue outbreak

Want China Times
Date: 2015-09-17
By: Xinhua and Staff Reporter

Chaozhou in south China’s Guangdong province is in the midst of a dengue fever outbreak

Health workers spray pesticide in Guangzhou, April 1. (Photo/Xinhua)

with 443 cases as of Tuesday.

A total of 195 people remain hospitalized. Seven of them are in serious condition, the city’s health and family planning commission said on Wednesday.

Disease control experts have warned of risks of a dengue outbreak in Guangdong due to its large mosquito population.

Dengue is a mosquito-borne, potentially fatal disease that mainly affects people in tropical and subtropical regions, causing fever, nausea and muscle and joint aches.

Guangdong reported the majority of China’s 46,000 dengue cases last year, including more than 35,000 in the provincial capital Guangzhou.

Across the Taiwan Strait, the tropical south of Taiwan has seen more than 10,000 cases of dengue fever this summer, with 25 deaths officially attributed to the disease as of Thursday. [FULL STORY]

DPP publicizes finances, Tsai promises transparency

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 18, 2015
By: Su Feng-ho and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文)

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesman Wang Ming-sheng unveils a new video to celebrate the 29th anniversary of the founding of the DPP at a news conference held at the party’s headquarters in Taipei yesterday. Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times

campaign office yesterday publicized its campaign finances, vowing to keep all sources of its contributions transparent and reject big corporate donors.

Tsai’s campaign chief executive officer Lin Hsi-yao (林錫耀) told a news conference in Taipei that the campaign does not accept contributions from conglomerates’ donors, adding that Tsai’s campaign has so far received NT$75 million (US$2.3 million) in donations, of which NT$48 million came from small contributions.

Lin said that the office has recorded and made available all contributions prior to last month to keep Tsai’s promise of transparency, and that the 18 local campaign offices nationwide would regularly update information about donations.

Lin said Tsai’s last presidential campaign in 2012 would have had to “hang up its cooking pots” if not for the piggy-bank initiative, which he said raised NT$ 200 million — referring to piggy banks the campaign doled out to individual supporters to collect contributions. [FULL STORY]

Page 798 of 876

« 1 … 796 797 798 799 800 … 876 »