travelnews: Travel Advisory

[Carolyn Wooley <cwooley@oregon.uoregon.edu>]

WHO WIDENS SARS ADVISORY
TO INCLUDE ALL OF TAIWAN

As a result of ongoing assessments as to the nature of outbreaks of severe
acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), the World Health Organization (WHO) is
now recommending, as a measure of precaution, that people planning to
travel to Taiwan province, China, consider postponing all but essential
travel. This is an extension of the advice issued on 8 May recommending
the postponing of non-essential travel to Taipei, and is based on
information received by the WHO detailing the spread of SARS beyond that
city. This temporary travel advice will be reassessed regularly.
Information about the magnitude of the SARS outbreaks in Taiwan province,
China, has been carefully reviewed by WHO. The travel advice is based on a
consideration of the magnitude of the outbreaks in the area, including
both the number of prevalent cases and the daily number of new cases. The
extent of local chains of transmission as well as the potential for spread
beyond these areas were also major factors in the reasoning for this
advice.
The SARS situation is assessed on a regular basis to determine whether the
status of areas listed for travel advice needs to be modified, whether
other areas need to be added, and if additional precautionary measures are
required. Current travel advice, whereby WHO recommends that people
consider postponing all but essential travel, are now in effect for
several areas of China, namely: Beijing, Hong Kong, Guangdong, Hebei,
Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Taiwan and Tianjin.


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