Eight people have died in Taiwan and 100 are infected, double the toll last week, and 384 additional cases are being investigated, the Taiwan Center for Disease Control reported.
The government has quarantined more than 6,000 people who had close contact with SARS patients. It has stopped issuing visas for visitors from Hong Kong, mainland China and Singapore, while enforcing a 10-day quarantine on other travelers arriving from those SARS-stricken areas.
…legislators also passed a T$50bn emergency package that the cabinet had hammered out only Wednesday. Part of the funds will be spent on subsidies and tax rebates for the hard-hit tourism industry. The money is budgeted to cover quarantine costs at hospitals and schools.
On Friday, China dropped its earlier opposition to Taiwan receiving direct help from World Health Organisation experts, with the Chinese health ministry saying Beijing was concerned about the health and wellbeing of the people of Taiwan.
