On May 2, 2009, Premier Liu traveled south to Kaohsiung to inspect preparation for the implementation of quarantine measures at Kaohsiung International Airport, Kaohsiung Municipal Min-Sheng Hospital, and the Kaoshiung Command Center.
Personnel accompanying Premier Liu on this visit to Kaohsiung include Cabinet Secretary-General Hsiang-Chuan Hsueh, Chairman of the Research, Development, and Evaluation Commission, Yi-Huah Jiang, Deputy Minister of the Department of Health Tzay-Jinn Chen, Section Chief of the Executive Yuan Joung-Dung Chang, and Secretary-General of the Government Information OfficeYung-Feng Chen.
At Kaohsiung International Airport, Premier Liu applauded the airport personnel’s efforts in implementing proper quarantine measures.In addition, Premier Liu requested relevant government units at the airport to maintain coordination with all key stakeholders in order to integrate available resources into the government’s preparedness strategies.Moreover, Premier Liu instructed reinforced quarantine measures to ensure proper and effective border control, thus protecting health of the people in Taiwan.
The Kaohsiung Command Center was established when the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) requested all city/county governments to establish local epidemic command centers within 24 hours of the establishment of CECC.When Premier Liu visited Kaohsiung, he attended a briefing at the Kaohsiung Command Center.After the briefing, Premier Liu commented that since the spread of infectious disease knows no boundaries, smooth cooperation between central and local government agencies is essential in continuously reinforcing the implementation of disease prevention activities and ensuring the health of the people in Taiwan.
Kaohsiung Min-Sheng Hospital is one of the hospitals in Taiwan equipped to handle a pandemic.Premier Liu visited the fever screening station at the emergency department, the negative pressure isolation wards, and the stockpile of medical resources and personal protective equipment.After visiting Kaohsiung Min-Sheng Hospital, he approved the hospital’s coordination and preparation efforts for a possible pandemic and commented that the Department of Health has also established the national stockpile of medical resources and personal protective equipment and the mechanism of supply management.
During the SARS outbreak in 2003, nosocomial transmission of SARS that occurred in hospitals drastically affected the normal function of the hospitals.Hence, the DOH established the “Infectious Disease Control Medical Network”, designating one hospital in each county to be equipped with negative pressure isolation wards in order to treat patients with infectious disease during a pandemic and prevent nosocomial infection.