Taiwan Reported 16 Domestic and Imported Mpox Cases 猴痘疫情擴散 本土+境外移入共16例確診

To date, Taiwan has had 16 confirmed cases of mpox. The CDC emphasized that it will reference practices from other countries and will hold an expert meeting soon.
 

Mpox is the second statutory communicable disease in the nation. In the past month, there were 10 domestic cases, adding imported cases, which amount to a total of 16 cases. According to current regulations, the infected must quarantine in the hospital until all the lesions have crusted and the scab has fallen off. Recently one patient reported to the media that he was locked inside a single patient room for 40 days and felt isolated and completely helpless.

Du Sih-cheng, Secretary-General, Taiwan Tongzhi (LGBTQ+) Hotline Association: “Quarantine alone brings quite a lot of stress to an individual, both mentally and physically. I believe those of us who have experienced COVID-19 can be related. So if there are care mechanisms in the process, I think it will be better.”

Tongzhi civil groups believe that when the infected is undergoing quarantine, the hospital should proactively care about the patient's mental and physical conditions as well as build care mechanisms. In addition, it also recommends referencing neighboring countries' policies, relaxing quarantine requirements on a case-by-case basis. For example, the quarantine requirement in Singapore is 14 days, plus seven days of monitoring for symptoms via regular phone calls, while in Japan the requirement is self-quarantine for 21 days.

Lo Yi-chun, CDC Deputy Director: “The current locale for quarantine is at hospitals, thus we contemplate whether in the future patients may quarantine at home or engage in autonomous health management. But we must first develop corresponding support measures. ”

The CDC emphasized that they will hold a mpox expert meeting soon to study whether to amend the quarantine period and the place of care. If a confirmed case returns home, he or she must have an independent space and avoid visitors as well as keep a distance with family members. Relevant corresponding measures are in the process of being drawn up.
 

猴痘是我國第二類法定傳染病，過去一個月就累計有10例本土個案，加上境外移入案例，已有16人確診。由於現行規定猴痘確診者必須在醫院隔離到皮膚病灶結痂完全脫落才能出院，日前有確診者向媒體投訴表示，自己被關在單人病房內40天，覺得孤立無援非常崩潰。

台灣同志諮詢熱線協會秘書長杜思誠指出：「隔離這件事情本身對個人來說，其實身心壓力也很大，我相信大家經歷過新冠疫情都可以知道，所以如果這過程中可以有一些關懷機制的話，其實會蠻好的。」

同志民間團體認為，確診者隔離治療時院方應主動關懷確診者的身心狀況，建立關懷機制。另外也建議仿照鄰近國家規定，視個案情況放寬解隔標準，例如新加坡隔離時間為14天，再加上7天自主健康管理，日本則是自主隔離21天。

疾管署副署長羅一鈞表示：「現在的隔離處所就是都是在醫院，是不是未來可以在家裡面進行隔離，甚至自主健康管理，它有一些配套措施需要研擬。」

疾管署強調，近期將召開猴痘專家會議，研議是否修訂確診隔離天數及照顧處所，若確診者返家隔離須有獨立空間、避免訪客探視、和家人需保持距離等，相關配套措施仍在擬定中。