The third meeting held by CECC was convened by the Vice Premier of Executive Yuan Paul Cheng-Hsiung Chiu and the commanding officer of CECC, Minister of Health Yeh at 2pm on May 3, 2009.Minister of Health Yeh pointed out that the strategy employed by the government to help prevent the international spread of disease is to “fight influenza A (H1N1) using knowledge and cooperate with the World Health Organization (WHO) and other countries”.Since no confirmed case of influenza A (H1N1) has occurred in Taiwan and the national stockpile of medical resources and personal protective equipment is sufficient, the public should not panic.

The following four decisions were reached in the meeting:

1. With reference to the grouping and description of pandemic phases described by the WHO and based on Taiwan’s ability to control and contain outbreaks, in Taiwan, a six-phase approach to describe pandemic alert level is adopted.Phase 1 is represented by green light when there is no domestic confirmed case.Phases 2-4 are represented by yellow light.Phase 5 is represented by orange light.Phase 6 is represented by red light.Currently, Taiwan’s phase of pandemic alert is 1 because no domestic confirmed case has occurred in Taiwan yet.

2. Educating the public about relevant information on disease prevention is extremely critical.Further, all information should be made publicly available by CECC.In addition, CECC plans to have local governments distribute health education materials to the general public.On the other hand, the National Communications Commission and the Government Information Office have planned to coordinate with the media and use the public access channel to regularly broadcast updates concerning the spread of influenza A (H1N1).Therefore, the public is urged to pay attention to all such updates.

3. Taiwan’s overseas offices such as Taiwanese embassies and missions abroad and the Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission will assist in locating the whereabouts of Taiwanese immigrants, Taiwanese businessmen and all other Taiwanese people overseas.

4. As of now, the supply of medical resources and personal protective equipment in Taiwan is sufficient.The local manufacturers can produce up to 1.52 millions of face masks everyday, meeting the market demand.Moreover, CECC has decided to distribute 2 millions of face masks to 4 major convenience stores (7-11, Family Mart, Hi-Life, and OK Mart) in Taiwan for sale to the public on May 5, 2009. The face masks should be ready for sale on May 7, 2009.It was rumored that Taiwanese government would have a difficult time evacuating Taiwanese immigrants from Mexico and Taiwanese immigrants would have a hard time returning to Taiwan.To clarify the rumors, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs connected with the Taipei Cultural and Economic Representative Office and the physician of preventive medicine from Taiwan CDC in Mexico at 8pm on May 3, 2009 to publicly describe the current situation in Mexico.