The previous SARS thread got too big to manipulate - post your SARS-related comments here. 
It would help if Formosa would stop posting his interminable links to ānews itemsā about SARS that are nothing more than continuous rehashes and regurgitations of other stories. Yes Formosa, we get the picture ā lots of media sources are reporting on SARS. Do you have another point to make? 
[Posted BEFORE Sandman post above appeared on the screen]
Dear SARSters,
I am taking a self-imposed voluntarily mandatory break from this ongoing thread ā¦on doctorās orders.
Good luck all. Be safe, take care.
Courage.
Yours truly,
Formosa
PS ā See you in September
[Added after Sandmanās post above: Sandy, good luck to you, too. Youāre the salt of the Earth, in a matter of speaking, and your pithy posts made these discussions all the more informative and enjoyable. Donāt let the turkeys get you down. Cheers, mate!]
If any of us are still alive in September. :?
More japes and wizard goings-on, this time involving none other than one of the visiting US CDC members, who has been in and out of SARS-affected hospitals since May 15 and ā get this ā was spending his nights mingling freely with the other guests at the Taipei Sheraton. This bloke has now come down with SARS symptoms and is being airlifted back to the states. The hotel has been closed down, several cleaners and other staff there have been put into isolation and anyone who used the dining room there has been warned to monitor themselves closely.
Seems Taiwan officials are not the only incompetent fools around.
Of course, this story comes courtesy of the CNA, so any, all or none of it could be a bunch of half-researched crap.
Iāve had it! Time to start fighting back, but I need help.
Today my school informed me that they received word from the āgovernmentā that all schools must mask teachers and students at all times, including during the teaching of lessons. Up until now, Iāve gone along with being masked in the building, play areas, hallways, etc., but have removed the mask when teaching. We all have our temps taken twice daily, so, IMHO, the mask is hogwash. No temperature, no transmission.
Now, they (the directors) have come up with this āgovernmentā memo to enforce the mask during lessons. They even went so far as to say that a government agent may, at some point, pop into the school to check up on us, and if we arenāt masked, big time fine for the school.
I havenāt heard a peep about this so-called new policy, therefore, Iām trusting my instincts that it is a bunch of BS. Are there any other teachers out there whoāve been told the same thing? Has anyone else heard or read if this policy exists? I want to go into school tomorrow armed with info to defend my right to teach sans mask.
Much appreciated.
Sick of SARS,
Zen
Itās bullocks. No such rule.
Brian
With reference to Wolfās comment (at the end of the now-locked first part of this discussion) about people wearing masks in the street:
I now feel somewhat embarrassed that you might have seen me walking in the street wearing a mask these last few days. Thatās because, as I have to wear it both in the MRT and in my office, I just leave it on to walk the short distance between the two ā taking it off would be too mafan and also might contaminate the mask. I feel a little silly, and rather uncomfortable, walking in the street in the mask, but itās the lesser of two evils. Other people who keep their masks on when out and about might be doing so for similar reasons, and not because theyāre too dumb to realize that the mask can do nothing for them there.
Thanks Brianā¦that confirms two things. My school doesnāt have the balls to enforce a policy without blaming it on someone else (at least Iād respect that), and that theyāre a bunch of liars.
Iāll quit, or theyāll have to fire my ass, before Iāll go Lone Ranger during lessons. For the sake of my kids, I hope that doesnāt happen.
Sick of SARS,
Zen
Zen
it seems you may be making a mountain out of a mole hill hereā¦ maybe you are āsick of SARSā and this is getting to you?
Why quite your job to make a point when the owners of th school may not respect or understand your desicion fro doing this or your reasoning for why it is not necessarry to wear a maskā¦ you loose and the kids loose out hereā¦ the school will still apply these rules to try and make it appear to the parents that they are taking the extra step to protect their kids
You accuse them of being liarsā¦ well most people in business are in some way liars or always have other motivations to do something and try to pass it off or justify it some other way
Well Iām not really talking about the Mod scene in Taiwan but would like to know about how the World Health Organization is treating Taiwan in this recent SARS epidemic. I try to keep up with the situation by reading the NY Times and have read that the WHO view Taiwan as a province of China. Consequently, Taiwan is barred from WHO meetings.
I have friends at the Tamkang University at Tamshui and am a little concerned for them and theyāre families. I am currently in NY but plan on coming to Taiwan in the near future to teach English. How can I pettition the WHO into recognizing Taiwan?
Itās now being reported that an American expert from the CDC working here in Taiwan is returning to the US after developing SARS symptoms. :shock: And the Lai Lai Sheraton has been closed!
chinapost.com.tw/i_latestdetail.asp?id=18023
story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=s ā¦ c_doctor_1
CDC Health Expert Has Symptoms of SARS
TAIPEI, Taiwan - A disease expert from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who was investigating SARS in Taiwan is returning to the United States after developing symptoms of the virus, a Taiwan health official said Thursday.
The official said the illness was not confirmed. But if the epidemiologist does have the respiratory virus, it would be the first time a disease investigator has become ill from SARS since Dr. Carlo Urbani died from SARS in the early days of the epidemic, according to the World Health Organization.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
And more good news, SARS isnāt weakening.
Experts: SARS Not Losing Power Over Time
story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=s ā¦ c_doctor_1
"Disease experts said Thursday the SARS virus appears to be just as hardy in its 15th victim as its first one.
The virusā robust nature suggests it is well-adapted to reproducing inside the human body, meaning its ability to spread isnāt weakening, health experts said.
There had been hope that, like some viruses, this one might lose its punch over time, mutating and weakening. However, Dr. David Heymann, the WHOās chief of communicable diseases, said that does not appear to have happened and that scientists estimate the SARS virus has passed through chains of up to 15 people."
Got this from a friendā¦ 
Twinkle, twinkle, little SARS
How I wonder what you are!
Up inside my lungs so high
Now I canāt breathe deep or sigh
Twinkle, twinkle, little SARS
How I wonder what you are.
Twinkle, twinkle, little SARS
How I wonder where you are!
To Hong Kong the virus came
From China, they are to blame
Twinkle, twinkle, little SARS
How I wonder where you are.
Twinkle, twinkle, little SARS
How I wonder where you are!
Did you come from animals?
Chickens, ducks, pigs, cows or bulls?
Twinkle, twinkle, little SARS
How I wonder why you are.
blueface, Sandman is right. Pay attention! Youāre wasting valuable bandwidth and fellow postersā timeā¦ You seeā¦
Sandman wrote yesterday:
āIt would help if [blueface and others] would stop posting [their] interminable links to ānews itemsā about SARS that are nothing more than continuous rehashes and regurgitations of other stories. Yes , we get the picture ā lots of media sources are reporting on SARS. Do you have another point to make?ā
Iām sorry are you serious? :shock:
F,
It is not September yet. Get back in your cage. Come on, you promised.
sorry. broke quarantine again, true. i promised. and i INTEND to stay in my cage until 911. Now you know why the caged bird singsā¦
But just one one one one more small tiny question: ā¦ I noticed a new reporter writing SARS story for the Washington Post in the USA from Taipei. Name in Tim Culpan. Anybody know him? Is he a local guy or another parachute kid reporter?
okay, outta here. back in the cage. but iāll will be lurking from time to time, if the wife lets me out for a shower now and thenā¦
If at first you donāt succeed. taipeitimes.com/News/front/a ā¦ 2003052087
How exactly will a local referendum get Taiwan into the WHO?
Sometimes I feel this country is run by children.
Itās more like a cheap, roadside Chinese opera troupe. Lotās of screaming, banging, running aroundā¦all for no discernable reasonā¦or final result.
I have to say that, while I am dismayed by WHOās not allowing Taiwan in, what is even more unconscionable is Taiwanās politicians playing with peopleās lives, purposefully not dealing with this epidemic, e.g. ignoring the CDC staff and ignoring their advice because theyāre not from WHO, in order to make political gains. Itās as if they want the epidemic to get worse so they can point to it and say āAll this happened because WHO didnāt let us in!ā The Times has of course been playing along, emphasizing the WHO thing in their editorials and stories while playing down the fact that this epidemic is getting so bad because of local incompetence, suggesting that, if only we were part of WHO, none of this would have happened. Which is, of course, utter nonsense.