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Gov't reveals plan to ease hospital strain if COVID situation worsens

ROC Central News Agency

05/13/2021 03:01 PM

Taipei, May 13 (CNA) The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) on Thursday detailed its plans for allocating medical resources if the COVID-19 situation worsens in Taiwan, saying that it has the capacity to treat more than 10,000 patients in isolation.

In a phone interview with CNA, MOHW Vice Minister Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said his ministry conducted a comprehensive audit of the nation's hospital capacity when the pandemic broke out last year.

Based on the review, it developed a four-stage plan in which each stage reflects an increasing COVID-19 threat requiring a different allocation of hospital resources, he said.

In the first and lowest stage, Shih explained, all suspected and confirmed cases are treated in negative pressure rooms. There are currently around 1,000 such rooms nationwide, of which 400 are empty, he said.

In the second stage of the plan, the 171 hospitals in Taiwan with emergency response capabilities would set up special wards to accommodate COVID-19 patients, adding some 2,400 beds to the total capacity, Shih said.

Although these wards do not have negative pressure rooms, patients would still be isolated, one per room, he added.

The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) is currently making preparations to activate the second stage of the plan and has ordered the relevant hospitals to have their special wards in operation within one week.

In the third stage of the plan, Shih continued, entire hospitals would be designated solely for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

This would open up an additional 3,000 beds, while still allowing for patients to be treated in isolation, he said.

In the final stage, the government would be responding to a situation in which demand was beginning to outstrip the supply of available hospital beds.

In that situation, Shih said, asymptomatic patients and those with minor symptoms who did not require treatment would be transferred to government-designated quarantine facilities, which could accommodate an additional 4,000 people.

In total, he said, the nation's medical system would be able to accommodate over 10,000 COVID-19 patients in stage 4 of the plan.

During the call, Shih also called on Taiwan's medical professionals to quickly get vaccinated against COVID-19, both for their own safety and to prevent the disease from spreading.

Over the past several weeks, Taiwan has seen a sharp increase in the number of domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases, prompting the government to re-impose a number of prevention measures for the first time since last year.

On Thursday, Taiwan confirmed 13 new domestic COVID-19 cases, after reporting a record of 16 local cases on Wednesday, according to the CECC.

(By Chiang Hui-chun and Matthew Mazzetta)

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