First CE-IVD marked AI solution for prognostic risk stratification of breast cancer patients.

Stratipath, a global leader in AI-based precision diagnostic solutions, today announced that its AI software for prognostic risk stratification of breast cancers, Stratipath Breast, is now CE-IVD marked.

Stockholm, Sweden, June 01, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Stratipath, a global leader in AI-based precision diagnostic solutions, today announced that its AI software for prognostic risk stratification of breast cancers, Stratipath Breast, is now CE-IVD marked. This paves the way for clinical implementation in the European Union. Based on the analysis of digital histopathology whole slide images, stained with haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) the software provides novel decision support to clinicians and enables precision medicine for more patients.

Stratipath Breast is the first EU regulatory compliant solution for risk stratification of breast cancer using AI-based precision diagnostics to analyse cancer tissue, and enabling identification of patients with increased risk of disease progression.

In contrast to traditional molecular tests, AI-based risk stratification enables faster turnaround times for results, provides new information at the point of diagnosis and reduces the need for expensive molecular testing, allowing for wider use and benefit to more patients.

“Stratipath Breast offers a faster and cheaper alternative to molecular assays, allowing more patients to have access to precision diagnostics. By using Stratipath Breast, clinicians can diagnose with support from prognostic information, while reducing laboratory time and costs,” says Johan Hartman, professor in pathology at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, and co-founder of Stratipath.

Histological tumour grade is a strong prognostic indicator of breast cancer. Grading of invasive breast cancer is performed on all invasive breast cancers based on morphological assessment, according to the Nottingham Histologic Grade (NHG), resulting in the low- to high-risk categories NHG 1, 2 or 3. But currently, more than 50% of all breast cancer patients are categorised as of intermediate risk (i.e NHG 2), which provides little clinical utility for treatment decision-making. The consequential over- and undertreatment of patients with early breast cancer has become one of the main challenges for treating physicians, and the clinical decisions are often dependent on expensive molecular assays that are not accessible to the majority of patients.

Using deep learning, Stratipath Breast enables cancer detection and classification of intermediate risk tumours into low- and high-risk groups, based on grade-related tumour morphology. The stratification comes from a rigorous scientific development process and validation using multi-source real-world datasets, comprising histopathology images and associated clinical outcome data.

The system measures risk-associated morphological patterns locally in the image and aggregates this information across the analysed tissue area to establish whether the tumour belongs to the high- or low-risk group. Results from Stratipath Breast provide prognostic information and are intended to be used as a decision support tool, together with other clinical and pathological information.

Stratipath Breast provides an optimal workflow through integration with leading digital pathology solutions. It can also be used on its own, via the Stratipath customer web portal. Access to Stratipath Breast will be provided as a Software as a Service solution, by a subscription or pay as you use model. Not marketed in the USA.

About Stratipath
Stratipath is a spin-out from Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, bringing pioneering research in AI and precision medicine into clinical use. The company was founded in 2019 by Johan Hartman, M.D., PhD, Mattias Rantalainen, PhD and Fredrik Wetterhall with a mission to radically improve cancer treatment decisions and patient outcomes. Stratipath offers an AI precision diagnostic solution for healthcare and can offer an accelerated path for pharma and biotech companies to identify patients most likely to benefit from novel therapies.

Attachments

Lars Lengquist
Stratipath
+46 709574782
lars.lengquist.press@stratipath.com

 

UK National Screening Committee Report Singles Out Eyenuk’s EyeArt as the Only Diabetic Eye Screening AI Technology Ready for Live Clinical Implementation in the National Health Service

LOS ANGELES, June 01, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Eyenuk, Inc., a global artificial intelligence (AI) medical technology and services company and the leader in real-world applications for AI Eye Screening™ and AI Predictive Biomarkers™, announced today that its EyeArt® system has been confirmed to have “sufficient high quality evidence” as “safe and cost-effective,” and is the only diabetic eye screening AI technology ready for live clinical implementation in the United Kingdom, according to the report, Automated grading in the Diabetic Eye Screening Programme- External review against programme appraisal criteria for the UK National Screening Committee.”

The comprehensive review of 10 AI algorithms’ performance, reported in peer-reviewed publications, was conducted for the UK National Screening Committee (NSC), which provides advice about all aspects of population screening to the National Health Service (NHS) and the ministers of the four UK countries (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland).

The 169-page NSC report identified the EyeArt v2.1 algorithm for autonomous diabetic retinopathy screening as the only AI technology ready for live clinical implementation in the UK. Study authors concluded that “there is sufficient high-quality evidence from the EDESP (English Diabetic Eye Screening Program) that EyeArt v2.1 may be safe and cost-effective either using it for level 1 grading or as a filter prior to manual grading.”

The EyeArt system is now being planned for live clinical use within the North East London NHS Diabetes Eye Screening Programme as part of a project led by the Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and supported jointly by the NHSX AI Lab and the UK Health Foundation. The funded program will implement the live clinical use of artificial intelligence and assess its effectiveness in addressing racial and ethical health inequalities, and its acceptability by healthcare providers and people with diabetes.

“We are gratified by the NSC’s confirmation that the EyeArt system stands out from other solutions for its safety and cost-effectiveness and would like to thank our clinical collaborators within various diabetes eye screening programs (DESP) throughout the National Health Service,” said Kaushal Solanki, PhD, founder and CEO of Eyenuk. “We look forward to working with the Moorfields Eye Hospital and the North East London NHS DESP to deploy the EyeArt system for live clinical use.”

The UK has been leading the world in diabetic retinopathy screening, achieving patient uptake rates of over 80% (screening nearly 2.5 million diabetes patients annually). In most countries, fewer than half of diabetes patients receive annual eye screening. Thanks to the UK’s comprehensive screening program, it is the only country where diabetic retinopathy is no longer the leading cause of blindness in the working-age adults.

Eyenuk will showcase the EyeArt AI System during the American Diabetes Association’s 82nd Scientific Sessions in New Orleans, June 3-7. Attendees can visit booth #1709 to learn how the EyeArt system can help their organizations improve diabetes management and population health.

About Eyenuk, Inc.
Eyenuk, Inc. is a global artificial intelligence (AI) medical technology and services company and the leader in real-world AI Eye Screening™ for autonomous disease detection and AI Predictive Biomarkers™ for risk assessment and disease surveillance. Eyenuk is on a mission to screen every eye in the world to ensure timely diagnosis of life- and vision-threatening diseases, including diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, stroke risk, cardiovascular risk, and Alzheimer’s disease. Find Eyenuk online on its websiteTwitterFacebook, and LinkedIn.

About the EyeArt AI System
The EyeArt AI System provides fully autonomous diabetic retinopathy (DR) screening, including retinal imaging, DR detection based on international clinical standards and immediate reporting, in a single office visit during a diabetic patient’s regular exam. Once the patient’s fundus images have been captured and submitted to the EyeArt AI System, the DR detection results are available in a PDF report in less than 30 seconds.

The EyeArt AI System was developed with funding from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) and is validated by the U.K. National Health Service (NHS). In addition to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance, the EyeArt AI System has CE marking as a class 2a medical device in the European Union and a Health Canada license. It is the most extensively validated AI technology for autonomous DR detection, tested on over 500,000 patients globally with 2 million images collected in clinical environments. It is designed to be General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) compliant. The EyeArt AI System is reimbursable by government and private payors in the U.S. under the newly created Category 1 Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code 92229.

VIDEO: Learn more about the EyeArt AI System for Autonomous Detection of Diabetic Retinopathy

Media Contact
Todd Stein
+1 510 417 0612
todd@toddsteincommunications.com

Eyenuk, Inc. Contact
Frank Cheng, President & CCO
+1 818 835 3585
frank.cheng@eyenuk.com

JM Health Rebrands as Veranova Following Sale to Altaris Capital Partners

Veranova, formerly Johnson Matthey Health

WAYNE, Pa., June 01, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Veranova, formerly known as Johnson Matthey Health, has launched as an independent company following the acquisition by Altaris Capital Partners, LLC from Johnson Matthey PLC (LSE: JMAT).

Veranova is a leading global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) focused on specialty Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs). With approximately 900 employees, Veranova serves the pharmaceutical industry with a full spectrum of API and drug development services, from process design through to commercial manufacturing.

Veranova is headquartered in Wayne, PA, with cGMP manufacturing operations in West Deptford, NJ; Devens, MA; North Andover, MA; Annan, UK; and Edinburgh, UK, and manufacturing and R&D centers in Cambridge, UK; and Yantai, China.

Veranova and its predecessor entities have a strong legacy of innovation in the pharmaceutical industry which spans more than a century and the development of more than 100 APIs, including the first platinum-based drugs for cancer treatment.

Today, Veranova is a leader in the development and manufacture of complex and highly potent APIs, with expertise across a diverse range of chemistry processes and technologies, including drug linkers for antibody drug conjugates. Veranova holds over 425 active patents and works with a wide variety of pharmaceutical corporations and biotechnology companies.

Originating from the Latin words ‘vērus‘ meaning ‘true’ and ‘nŏvus‘ meaning ‘new’, the Veranova name represents the reliability and innovative approach the company seeks to deliver to its customers.

About Veranova

Veranova is a global leader in process development and manufacturing of APIs, with a focus on specialty and complex products. Veranova is headquartered in Wayne, PA, and has operations in North America, Europe and Asia.  For more information, please visit www.veranova.com.

About Altaris Capital Partners

Altaris is a healthcare investment firm with an exclusive focus on building companies that deliver value to the healthcare system through innovation and efficiency. Since its inception in 2003, Altaris has invested in more than 45 healthcare companies which have generated significant value appreciation for investors. Altaris is headquartered in New York City and manages more than $5.0 billion of equity capital. For more information, please visit www.altariscap.com.

Contact Details

For further information and interview opportunities with Veranova, please contact:

Media Inquiries

Charles Ben-Cofie

Senior Content Manager, Notch Communications

T +44 (0) 161 457 7230

charles.ben-cofie@notchcommunications.co.uk

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Image 1: Veranova, formerly Johnson Matthey Health

Veranova, formerly Johnson Matthey Health, has launched as an independent company following the acquisition by Altaris Capital Partners, LLC

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TES Honored by Receiving Several Prestigious Awards

These awards are a testament to TES’s best-in-class status as a sustainable technology lifecycle solutions provider

SINGAPORE, June 01, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — In April, the Edison Awards announced that TES’s sustainable battery solutions would be honored with the 2022 Gold award in the Sustainability-Power Generation and Recovery category.

The recipients of the Edison Awards are selected through a thorough review process conducted by experts in the fields of science, technology, design, engineering, and marketing. The Edison judges noted the capacity offered by TES’s proprietary recycling process, coupled with recovery rates of up to 99%. Additional commendations were made over the safe and low capital energy that the facility generates to power its process.

Notably, in the previous month, TES was honored with a Gold-level Green World Award in the Green Energy category. The Green World Awards are part of the Green Apple Environment Awards. The 2022 Green World Awards presentation ceremony was held on March 15 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Also in March 2022, TES was the proud recipient of a 2022 Data Centre World Award (DCW). These awards are presented annually in London to recognize and reward companies and individuals in the data center sector for innovative and leading achievements in several categories. The DCW judges noted TES’s particular focus on resolving industry-critical problems and the global-scale nature of the services that use continuous cycles of iteration to improve.

Commenting on the recent awards, Eric Ingebretsen, TES’s Chief Commercial Officer, said: “We’re delighted to be recognized by such reputable organizations, and it’s great to see TES represented amongst other global 2000 brands. At TES, we see ourselves as a global sustainability leader, and these awards prove that we are on the right path.”

TES’s award haul last year was equally bountiful, having been recognized twice by Microsoft in 2021. The first recognition, Microsoft’s Authorized Refurbisher (MAR) Partner Innovation Award, reflects TES’s continued endeavors to bring usable refurbished technology to the hands of those who need it most.

The second Microsoft award was given for Citizenship & Philanthropy, recognizing a remarkable 100% year-over-year growth in MAR citizenship license sales. This growth was generated by initiatives giving back to society and ensuring that quality digital devices are conferred to communities that need support in bridging the digital divide.

Gary Steele, TES’s Chief Executive Officer, added: “The challenge we all face is clear. We must do everything we can to cut emissions and slow the pace of climate change. At TES, our role in that mission is to make a decade of difference, that is, to securely, safely, and sustainably transform and repurpose 1 billion kilograms of assets by 2030. We are well on our way toward the attainment of that goal through innovation and the adoption of circular models.”

About TES

Founded in 2005, TES is a global leader in sustainable technology services and bespoke solutions that help clients manage the commissioning, deployment, and retirement of technology devices and components. As one of the largest IT lifecycle service providers in the world, TES understands the common challenges encountered when managing IT equipment throughout its lifecycle. Bespoke, cost-effective solutions address these challenges while achieving compliance with all local and international data security, environmental, and industry regulations.

TES’s mission is to make a decade of difference by securely, safely, and sustainably transforming and repurposing 1 billion kilograms of assets by 2030. Through an unmatched global footprint of 42 owned facilities across 21 countries, TES offers unrivaled service-level consistency, consistent commercials, lower logistics costs, local environmental compliance experts inregion, support in local time zones and languages, and a deep understanding of transboundary movement globally.

To find out more about TES’s Awards and Recognitions, follow this link: www.tes-amm.com/awards-recognition. For more information on TES, visit www.tes-amm.com.  For inquiries, please email Jon Sawyer at jon.sawyer@tes-amm.com.

References:

SK ecoplant has acquired a 100% stake in TES — https://www.tes-amm.com/press-release/sk-ecoplant-has-acquired-a-100-percent-stake-in-tes 

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Digital Entertainment Asset Pte. Ltd., Names Tatsuya Kohrogi From Meta as VP to Accelerate Business Growth

Tatsuya Kohrogi

Tatsuya Kohrogi

SINGAPORE, May 31, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Singaporean blockchain gaming and entertainment company Digital Entertainment Asset Pte. Ltd. (DEA), known for their leading GameFi platform PlayMining featuring famous Japanese creators’ original NFTs and cryptocurrency token DEAPcoin (ticker code “DEP”), today announced the appointment of Tatsuya Kohrogi as Vice President and Head of Global Business.

Recently recognized as the first play-to-earn cryptocurrency token in Japan, DEA has led the GameFi industry in Asia with over 2.4 million players worldwide from Indonesia, Philippines, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, and more. During DEA’s business strategy presentation in April, the company shared actual revenue numbers for H1 2022 which was 40M SGD, with EBITDA at 26M SGD. DEA’s annual revenue forecast for 2022 was presented as 102M SGD with an EBITDA of 43M SGD. Since the start of the trading card battle game title JobTribes, 100 original NFT works have been created by famous Japanese creators who have received royalties over 6M USD to date.

Kohrogi said, “DEA aims to become the world’s no.1 web3 entertainment company that also simultaneously tackles social and economic problems. The PlayMining platform allows users to mine crypto while they play games. Gaming and entertainment are becoming a sustainable livelihood option for people around the world. And I am incredibly excited to take on this role and help further scale the creators economy and web3 entertainment globally.”

Before joining DEA, Kohrogi served as a Partner Manager at Meta where he built relationships with key ad agencies in Japan and strategically grew his key partners’ business by 3x in 2 years and achieved scaling partner revenue to a 9 figure USD annual business.

Prior to Meta, he was at SoftBank, where he held several roles over the course of a 7-year period, including investment strategy, business development, sales management, digital marketing, and co-founder of an internal venture.

Kohrogi also trained under Masayoshi “Masa” Son, CEO of SoftBank Group for 3 years at SoftBank Academia where he learned the art of corporate leadership directly from Son and worked on CEO projects as a member of Son’s successor program.

Naohito Yoshida, CEO, said “Tatsuya is a dynamic leader and is highly experienced in building partner relations, creating and implementing leading initiatives and strategies. As we begin to expand our business across Asia, Europe, and North America, we are confident each region will grow under Tatsuya’s leadership.”

About DEA
DEA, a GameFi platform business, was founded in Singapore in August 2018, and is developing JobTribes, a Play to Earn game, and PlayMining NFT, an NFT marketplace. Using blockchain technology, the company aims to realize a world where one can create value by having fun.

Co-CEO: Naohito Yoshida (twitter: @yoshidadea1) , Kozo Yamada (twitter: @kozo_tx)
VP: Tatsuya Kohrogi (twitter: @tatsuya_kohrogi)
Location: 7 Straits View, Marina One East Tower,#05-01,Singapore 018936
Establishment: August 2018
Business description: GameFi platform business

Contact Information
Digital Entertainment Asset Pte Ltd
Public Relation: Takasugi|tomoyuki_takasugi@dea.sg / Soeda|soeda@dea.sg

Official Social Media Accounts
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/digital-entertainment-asset
Discord: https://discord.com/invite/xWeHGdt
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PlayMining_SG
Telegram: https://t.me/DEAPcoin_group
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PlayMining
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGWmK0RLV4SB_PSXpj2j6dw

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Image 1: Tatsuya Kohrogi

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UN Global Compact launches Africa Business Leaders Coalition to advance climate action and sustainable growth across the continent

The Africa Business Leaders Coalition brings together CEOs from across the continent to advance Africa’s sustainable growth, prosperity and development

New York, U.S.A., May 31, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Convened by the UN Global Compact, Chief Executive Officers from across Africa today announced the launch of the Africa Business Leaders Coalition (ABLC).

The Coalition will provide a platform for African business leaders to have a unified private sector voice as they actively and meaningfully engage to work on the continent’s most pressing issues through an organized, forward-looking, principles-based approach.

The Africa Business Leaders Coalition is a CEO-led initiative emanating from the UN Global Compact Africa Strategy 2021–2023, and is committed to advancing sustainable growth, prosperity and development in Africa by bringing measurable impact to its most pressing issues. The ABLC will work closely with the UN Global Compact Hub in Abuja and 10 Global Compact Local Networks operating across Africa.

Ahead of COP27 to be held in Egypt in November 2022, the ABLC will focus its efforts on sustainable development and ambitious climate action by bringing the perspectives of dozens of leading African CEOs and Board Chairs into the global conversation. This will culminate in an ABLC Climate Statement in support of COP27, anchored in the goals of the Paris Agreement, the Sustainable Development Goals and the UN Global Compact Ten Principles. ABLC members will be invited to sign on and announce credible commitments and actions through this Climate Statement.

Welcoming the founding members of the Africa Business Leaders Coalition, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed urged them to use their influence to drive change across the continent.  “This is  an opportunity to establish a holistic dialogue to reconcile the development needs of the continent with the need for ambitious climate action, jumpstart the renewable energy transition, and build resilience across the continent,” she said.

Launching the ABLC, Assistant Secretary-General and CEO of the UN Global Compact Sanda Ojiambo said: “Climate change presents a $3 trillion investment opportunity in Africa by 2030. But this potential will not be realized unless the private sector is involved. This Coalition has a critical role to play in ensuring the voice of Africa’s private sector is heard on the global stage to ensure the continent’s growth is not only sustainable but also green.”

The 11 founding members of ABLC include Herbert Wigwe, CEO, Access Bank, Nigeria; Brahim Benjelloun Touimi, Chairman, Bank of Africa, Morocco; Hichem Elloumi, Chairman and CEO, COFICAB; Strive Masiyiwa, Founder and Executive Chairman, Econet Wireless, Zimbabwe; James Mwangi, CEO and Managing Director, Equity Group, Kenya; Karim Bernoussi, CEO, Intelcia Group, Morocco; Phuthi​ Mahanyele-Dabengwa, CEO, Naspers, South Africa; Yasmine Mohamed Farid Khamis, CEO and Chairman, Oriental Weavers Carpets Co., Egypt; Peter Ndegwa, CEO, Safaricom, Kenya; Fleetwood Grobler, President and CEO, Sasol, South Africa; and Amir Barsoum, Founder and CEO, Vezeeta, Egypt.

Members of the ABLC commit to upholding the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact and becoming a UN Global Compact participant within six months of joining.

During today’s  launch, the founding members shared their commitment to sustainability across the continent, focusing on potential company commitments, the sustainability efforts they are making across their communities, a move towards more innovative and robust methods of climate finance, and a call to action for the global community.

The virtual launch event was also attended by leaders from the United Nations, including Abdulla Shahid, President of the United Nations General Assembly; Collen Vixen Kelapile, President, United Nations Economic and Social Council; Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations; Cristina Duarte, Under Secretary-General and Special Adviser on Africa to the UN Secretary-General and Sanda Ojiambo, Assistant Secretary-General and CEO of the UN Global Compact. They  joined together today to launch the ABLC with Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, UN Climate Change High-level Climate Champion for Egypt.

Boston Consulting Group is providing strategy and implementation support to the UN Global Compact for the Africa Business Leaders Coalition.  Today’s inaugural  meeting was Chaired by Sanda Ojiambo with support from Patrick Dupoux, Managing Director, Senior Partner, and Head of Africa, BCG.

Today’s  launch will be followed by six regional roundtable meetings in Abidjan, Cairo, Casablanca, Johannesburg, Lagos and Nairobi in June and July to discuss, shape and mobilize principled and sustainable business in Africa.

About the United Nations Global Compact

As a special initiative of the UN Secretary-General, the United Nations Global Compact is a call to companies everywhere to align their operations and strategies with Ten Principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. Our ambition is to accelerate and scale the global collective impact of business by upholding the Ten Principles and delivering the Sustainable Development Goals through accountable companies and ecosystems that enable change. With more than 15,000 companies and 3,000 non-business signatories based in over 160 countries, and 69 Local Networks, the UN Global Compact is the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative — one Global Compact uniting business for a better world.

For more information, follow @globalcompact on social media and visit our website at unglobalcompact.org and Africa Business Leaders Coalition | UN Global Compact

Media Contact

Alex Gee

gee@unglobalcompact.org 

Dan Thomas
United Nations Global Compact
(212) 907-1301
media@unglobalcompact.org

WillScot Mobile Mini Holdings to Participate in the Stifel Cross Sector Insight Conference

PHOENIX, May 31, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — WillScot Mobile Mini Holdings Corp. (“WillScot Mobile Mini” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: WSC), the North American leader in modular space and portable storage solutions, today announced that Brad Soultz, Chief Executive Officer, Tim Boswell, President & Chief Financial Officer and Nick Girardi, Sr. Director of Treasury & Investor Relations, will participate in a fireside chat and host private investor meetings at the 2022 Stifel Cross Sector Insight Conference in Boston on Wednesday, June 8, 2022. The fireside chat will take place at 4:45 p.m. EDT.

About WillScot Mobile Mini Holdings

WillScot Mobile Mini Holdings trades on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker symbol “WSC.” Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, the Company is a leading business services provider specializing in innovative flexible workspace and portable storage solutions. WillScot Mobile Mini services diverse end markets across all sectors of the economy from a network of over 275 branch locations and additional drop lots throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom.

Additional Information and Where to Find It

Additional information can be found on the company’s website at www.willscotmobilemini.com

Contact Information

Investor Inquiries:

Nick Girardi
nick.girardi@willscotmobilemini.com

Media Inquiries:

Scott Junk
scott.junk@willscotmobilemini.com

Taiwan to host 2025 WorldSkills Asia competition

Taiwan has been selected to host the 2025 WorldSkills Asia competition, an international tournament promoting vocational skills education.

Lin San-quei (???), a WorldSkills Asia board member, told CNA on Wednesday that he received notification a day earlier that a majority of the group’s members had approved Taiwan’s application to host the event.

The organization will soon make an official statement announcing the decision, while the competition has been tentatively scheduled for November 2025, said Lin, who previously served as Taiwan’s vice minister of labor.

WorldSkills Asia, a branch of WorldSkills International, held its first competition in Abu Dhabi in 2018. Over the past three years, it has held exhibition events online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The second in-person competition is scheduled to take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2023, while the one in Taiwan would be the third.

WorldSkills skills competitions cover a wide range of categories, including plastering and drywall, electrical installation, graphic design, car painting, welding, and robotics.

According to Lin, WorldSkills International recently canceled its 2022 competition in Shanghai due to the COVID situation there, and plans to announce alternative arrangements for competitors by the end of June.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel

CORONAVIRUS/Two infants become youngest to die from COVID-19 in Taiwan

Two infants, a 1-month-old boy and a 5-month-old girl, who were among the 122 deaths from COVID-19 reported Wednesday, have become the youngest people to die from the disease in Taiwan to date, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said.

The 1-month-old boy, a Taiwanese national who was born prematurely with lung disease, developed a fever on May 24 after two of his family members came down with COVID-19, said Lo Yi-chun (???), deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division.

The next morning, his parents found him unresponsive and noticed that his skin had turned blue and took him to a local hospital accompanied by police officers.

At the hospital, he tested positive for COVID-19 using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, and his death was classified as being caused by COVID-19 and respiratory failure, Lo said.

The 5-month-old girl is an Indonesian national who was mainly being taken care of by a friend of her mother, Lo said.

The girl had a fever on May 14, and the person taking care of her gave her a COVID-19 rapid test, which came back positive. She was given fever medication, but was found unresponsive the next morning. Her death was attributed to COVID-19 and heart and lung failure, Lo said.

Her case has been referred to social welfare authorities, Lo said.

When asked why the conditions of the two infants rapidly deteriorated, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung (???) said that there could be other factors at play, and that further investigation was required.

Severe infections involving children

Also on Wednesday, Lo said that a 9-year-old boy previously reported as having developed symptoms of encephalitis was newly classified as a severe COVID-19 case.

The boy developed a fever of nearly 40 degrees Celsius on May 29, and a COVID-19 rapid test he took came back positive. He later began having convulsions and started to lose consciousness, and his parents took him to the emergency room of a local hospital.

He is currently being treated at the hospital and is in stable condition, Lo said.

The cases reported Wednesday bring the number of children 12 years old and younger who have developed severe COVID-19 infections to 29, of whom 12 have died.

Encephalitis was a factor in the death of five of these children, while two had gotten pneumonia and one had septic shock. Another of the children died because of complications from a brain tumor, and three others were found unresponsive at home.

To date, Taiwan has recorded 2,377 deaths linked to COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.

Of the 2,005,338 domestic cases recorded in Taiwan this year, 1,810 have been classified as severe infections and 3,905 as moderate, accounting for 0.09 percent and 0.19 percent of the total, respectively, according to CECC data as of May 31.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel

CORONAVIRUS/Meeting between father of toddler COVID victim, officials aborted

A scheduled meeting between the father of a two-year-old boy who died from COVID-19 last month and New Taipei officials did not take place on Wednesday after the man declined to meet them as he demanded full call records and recordings rather than just an explanation.

The parents and officials had agreed on Tuesday evening to meet on Wednesday, after the boy’s father appealed to the government in a Facebook post on Monday to explain why it had taken 81 minutes for an ambulance to send his son to hospital, a delay he suggested was responsible for the child’s death.

Despite six days of treatment in an intensive care unit at Shuang Ho Hospital in New Taipei’s Zhonghe District, the boy died on April 19, becoming the first child in Taiwan to die of COVID-19 complications since the pandemic began in 2020.

“After En En (??, the boy’s name) tested positive for the disease with a high fever, we repeatedly called Zhonghe District Public Health Center, but nobody answered. We called the New Taipei fire department, which asked us to get approval from the health center first, and we then dialed 119 (ambulance hotline) four times before an ambulance was dispatched,” the father said in the Facebook post on Monday.

“Why did it take 81 minutes for the ambulance to come?” he questioned.

The father said he and his wife had sent an application to the New Taipei City government, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Zhonghe health center, and the 1922 CDC hotline, asking them to make public the records of his calls.

“After giving it a second thought, I think we need all the call records and recordings and the notice of our report to the police, a right (granted to citizens) based on the Freedom of Government Information Act,” the man said in a Facebook post earlier Wednesday.

Noting that he already received the record of his call to the 1922 hotline from the CDC under the Ministry of Health and Welfare last night, the man stressed that “My wife and I have yet to receive the call records and recordings from New Taipei City’s health and fire departments to get the full picture of what happened during those critical 81 minutes, rather than just an explanation.

“If there is something incomplete that we need to discuss with New Taipei officials, we will officially ask to meet them in person,” he said, adding that this “is the reason why we did not meet them this morning.”

Prior to Wednesday’s scheduled meeting with the child’s parents, New Taipei City Department of Health Director Chen Ran-chou (???) said they had prepared a report for them, but the couple canceled the meeting on short notice.

Speaking to reporters before a city council meeting Monday, New Taipei Mayor Hou Yu-ih (???) said the city government had compiled related information and that Department of Health Director Chen and Fire Department Director Huang Te-ching (???) would make a report to the child’s family.

“Every life must be treasured and everything possible must be done to prevent such a tragedy from happening again,” Hou said when asked by reporters at the time.

During Monday’s city council meeting, Chen said “everything that should have been done was done,” and the dispatch of the ambulance was undertaken in accordance with the Communicable Disease Control Act.

Because of the incident, the central government later changed its guidelines regarding sending persons confirmed with COVID-19 in home quarantine to hospital, she noted.

Echoing Chen’s remarks, Huang said such cases must be handled in accordance with existing procedures and the situation was dealt with based on protocols established by the central authorities at the time.

Also commenting on the issue, Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-chung (???) said Monday that recordings of 1922 hotline calls will be preserved for a year, and that callers should present their IDs to apply to access the recordings.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel