Taiwan this morning reported a daily record of 39 new infections to take its total to 383 probable cases.
The Department of Health said the death toll from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) remained at 40 and another 63 people had recovered from the flu-like virus.
The rising number of infections in Taiwan, grappling with the world's third-most severe outbreak of SARS, came against an improving trend elsewhere in Asia. Yesterday, China reported its lowest batch of new SARS cases.
More than 90 per cent of Taiwan's cases are the result of hospital infections, following a wave of outbreaks in at least six major hospitals in the last four weeks.About 140 medical staff at two major hospitals have quit for fear of catching the respiratory disease.
In another setback, the World Health Organization's annual assembly refused to give Taiwan observer status for the seventh year in a row despite the island's fears that continued exclusion was harming its fight against SARS.
China considers the self-governing island of 23 million a renegade province and says it is ineligible to join the WHO.
China reported five more people had died from SARS and another 17 were infected today. The Health Ministry said four of the deaths were in Beijing, currently the hardest hit place in the world, and 12 of the new cases. China has now had 294 deaths from the flu-like virus and 5,248 cases.
Meanwhile, five people have been placed under observation in hospital in Kazakhstan after travelling on a train with two passengers showing symptoms of the SARS virus.