In Taiwan, a man affected by HIV AIDS died in a car accident and subsequently had his organs donated to five other patients in need. The consequences were horrifying, 52 people, including 5 organ receivers and 47 medical staffs are suspected of being of being infected with HIV.

Taiwan's Department of Health held a press conference on Monday in the hope of easing the scare and anger over this unprecedented medical scandal. The department has set up three special independent groups and started investigations into the incident at the Taiwan hospital. The initial result is likely to be known next week.

Meanwhile, operations of organ transplants have been halted at Taiwan University Hospital. More than 1,800 patients waiting for organ transplants are being transferred to other hospitals.

The public is applying great pressure on the hospital and the department of health. The head of the department was surrounded by media.

Chiu Wenta, administrator of Taiwan’s Dept. of Health, said, "I feel extremely regretful and sad over this accident. The priority now is to care for the organ receivers. We need to form a caring group including social workers, psychologists and doctors. then we will need to find out what really went wrong and who is responsible for this tragedy."

An initial report filed by the hospital shows the incident may be related to misunderstood communications in phone calls between the hospital's laboratories and coordinators of the organ transplant operation. The hospital itself is currently undertaking a thorough investigation.

According to local media, 26 medical staff including doctors and nurses who were involved have had negative results from HIV tests. However, there is a 6-month open window period for HIV affections so it may still be too early for the final results.

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