WHO Issues Travel Warning for Taiwan

May 9, 2003

WHO Issues Travel Warning for Taiwan
The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a travel warning for Taiwan’s capital of Taipei, along with the mainland areas of Tianjin and Inner Mongolia as a result of the increasing spread of SARS. However, Taipei’s mayor, Ma Ying-jeou, said he didn’t agree with the WHO and it’s warning on the city when he stated, "we have taken so many precautions to make the city safe."

According to Travel Advance and various news reports, the latest WHO travel warning expands the alert beyond those previously issued to the Chinese areas of Beijing, Hong Kong, Guangdong province and Shanxi province. The new WHO warning should not have a dramatic affect on tourism because Taiwan had already issued a warning of its own due to the rapid spread of SARS.

The total death toll in the world from the spread of SARS reached 506 this week, with 7,053 infections.