Kaohsiung Imposes NT$180,000 Fine on First Local Dengue Case for Obstructing Investigation

Central News Agency, Kaohsiung, May 24. The Kaohsiung City Health Bureau announced today that the first confirmed local dengue fever case of the year in the country refused and evaded providing activity logs during the initial epidemiological investigation, and continued to provide evasive information. Consequently, the bureau will impose a heavy fine of NT$180,000. According to the bureau's press release, the patient in Qianzhen District initially refused to provide activity logs. Further detailed investigation revealed that the patient was evasive about their history. The patient later admitted to visiting areas including Renwu, Dash, Xinxing, and Lingya districts in Kaohsiung, as well as Pingtung County, which severely hindered the identification of the infection source and significantly increased the risk of community transmission. The Health Bureau stated that the patient's behavior violated the "Communicable Disease Control Act" and will be fined NT$180,000, urging citizens not to break the law. The bureau pointed out that to prevent the spread of dengue fever in the community, the city government has activated an inter-departmental emergency epidemic prevention mechanism, continuing to carry out source removal and chemical control operations around the patient's residence and workplace. As of today, nearly 120 people have been tested around the patient's activity areas. Furthermore, when epidemic prevention personnel conducted community inspections today, they still found many unsanitary spots and water-collecting containers, indicating a lack of proactive epidemic prevention awareness among the public, which will seriously affect the effectiveness of chemical control. They urged the public to work together to prevent the disease.