Taipei Times
Date: Mar 04, 2020
By: Lee I-chia / Staff reporter
Although the peak flu season has ended, people should still take protective measures as 12 flu-
Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Liu Ting-ping gives an update on the influenza situation at the Centers for Disease Control in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) also announced that expanded criteria for prescribing government-funded antivirals to treat the flu would be extended until the end of this month, allowing physicians at more than 4,000 contracted clinics and hospitals to prescribe the drugs to people with flu-like symptoms, including foreign nationals with an Alien Resident Certificate.
There were 12,059 emergency room visits for flu-like illness reported last week, down 4.4 percent from a week earlier, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Liu Ting-ping (劉定萍) said, adding that there were 46,433 hospital visits for flu-like illness reported, down 11.6 percent week-on-week.
In the past two weeks, the two gauges have been lower than in the same period over the past four years and the number of serious flu complications has dropped significantly, indicating that the peak flu season has ended, she said. [FULL STORY]
