Press Release of the Offshore Control Division of the Executive Yuan's SARS Epidemic Prevention, Control and Relief Committee
Today (May 19), the Offshore Control Division again linked up with the CKS International Airport and the Kaohsiung International Airport for a video conference. During the session, the Offshore Control Division stressed the importance of monitoring all passengers, in particular those suspected of having contracted SARS, to avoid the spreading of the virus from Taiwan to other places.
Meanwhile, the Kinmen County government's suggestion to "temporarily shut down the transportation between Kinmen and Xiamen for one month" was submitted for review to the Executive Yuan last week. The cabinet, taking public opinion on Kinmen into consideration, decided to readjust Kinmen-Xiamen shipping links in accordance with procedures currently in place for Matsu island's "Mini-Three-Links" since May 17. All passenger and cargo traffic between Kinmen and the Mainland is temporarily suspended, but other operations, such as applications for entry/exit of passengers/goods, and cargo transit, will be maintained. The duration for the implementation of these adjusted measures regarding the "Mini-Three-Links" for Kinmen will come under a review at an appropriate time according to the epidemic situation.
Recently, the case of a Mackay Memorial Hospital doctor who traveled to Japan and returned with SARS symptoms has drawn a considerable amount of public attention. Upon his return, the doctor named Chou was confirmed as a probable SARS case, but to our current knowledge, Chou had not displayed any abnormal situation during entry/exit temperature checks. Neither had he shown outside any other abnormal symptoms, such as coughing or breathing difficulties, which means that no blame can be put on offshore control and quarantine staff at the airport. Having said that, the Offshore Control Division is still reviewing current procedures, and will make every effort to further strengthen and strictly implement all quarantine and prevention measures. Hopefully, cases such as Doctor Chou's can be avoided in the future.
The Offshore Control Division also stated that the recently implemented "immigration cutback" measures have already produced concrete preventive results in reducing the number of imported epidemic sources. The logical next step is to carefully monitor all passengers/patients leaving Taiwan to prevent the epidemic from being spread to other places.
As pointed out by the Offshore Control Division, the following measures are all aimed at enhancing the efficiency of SARS prevention efforts: good grasp of the quarantined list, pooling and quick input of all data on home quarantine subjects, and enhanced double-checking and confirmation of all data with border control units. These measures will help to prevent those quarantined people from leaving the country in violation of quarantine and prevention measures. In addition, the Offshore Control Division has already asked the DOH and related governmental agencies to appoint doctors to provide a 24-hour medical service for the Kaohsiung International Airport. As is already the case at the CKS International Airport, a doctor will be on duty at all times at the Kaohsiung International Airport to handle further evaluation and treatment of passengers displaying symptoms such as body temperature or abnormal physical condition.
To ensure strict execution of quarantine measures, the Offshore Control Division will also assign special staff to conduct on-the -spot visits and perform random checks on home quarantine subjects who entered Taiwan from "areas with recent local transmission of SARS." This afternoon (May 19), the focus is on Mainland spouses and fishing boat crews. The Offshore Control Division calls on all quarantine subjects to comply with quarantine regulations to guarantee their personal wellbeing as well as that of the entire population by reducing virus transmission to its lowest.
In the Mainland, there is considerable disparity between different regions regarding the implementation of quarantine measures. To give ROC nationals currently in the Mainland a quick survey of available information about the Mainland's quarantine measures, the Straits Exchange Foundation has pooled all the data available from there.