Medical experts worry country’s hospitals will be overwhelmed should cases soar

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/03/27
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Medical experts in Taiwan are raising the alarm over how strained the country's resources will be in the event of a larger spike in coronavirus cases, with some suggesting the country should order a complete lockdown to stem the tide of imported cases.

Shih Jin-chung (施景中), an obstetrician at the prominent National Taiwan University Hospital has expressed concern about a shortage of negative pressure isolation rooms, which are designed to contain airborne contaminants, as those under quarantine in Taiwan reach 40,000. He called for stricter measures to prevent human movement, from a comprehensive lockdown to mandatory quarantine at designated accommodations for Taiwanese returning from abroad.

Taiwan has counted 267 COVID-19 cases as of Friday (March 27), with a steady double-digit rise of mostly imported infections every day over the past two weeks.

The situation is alarming, according to Chan Chang-chuan (詹長權), dean of National Taiwan University’s College of Public Health (CPH). He cautioned that the country’s medical system could be overwhelmed by a sudden influx of Wuhan virus patients needing special care if the number of new cases exceeds 100 a day, wrote Liberty Times.    [FULL  STORY]