Taiwan reports 11,000 new coronavirus cases

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan, which had been living mostly free of COVID-19, is facing its worst outbreak since the beginning of the pandemic with more than 11,000 new coronavirus cases reported Thursday.

Cases have been on the upswing since late March. In April, the island’s central authorities announced that they would no longer maintain a “zero-COVID” policy like the Chinese government’s in which they would centrally quarantine positive cases.

Instead, the government is asking people to quarantine at home if they test positive, unless they show moderate to severe symptoms.

Taiwanese Health Minister Chen Shih-chung announced Thursday that there had been 11,353 new cases, along with two deaths. At the daily news briefing by the Central Epidemic Command Center, he said 99.7% of the current cases either had no symptoms or had mild symptoms.

Most of Taiwan’s 858 COVID-19 deaths came from summer 2021. Until this month, it had been the island’s one major outbreak in the pandemic.

Taiwan has been relatively lucky throughout the pandemic but also has maintained strict border controls with a two-week quarantine on arrival required for all visitors.

Domestically, mask wearing is universal outdoors and indoors. Masks are legally required on public transportation and in places such as shops and theaters.

In the last few weeks, as cases have ratcheted up, people have scrambled to buy up rapid tests, with stores selling out in just a few hours. Convenience stores across Taipei were unsure where their next delivery would come from.

Difficulty buying rapid tests is probably due in part to the government’s thought throughout the pandemic that there are few benefits to mass testing. The health minister last year said that public funds and medical resources could better be used elsewhere.

That changed with last year’s outbreak.

The government this month said it would work with Taiwanese companies that manufacture tests to ensure that everyone would have access. A system was rolled out Thursday that limits each person to buying one pack of five tests per trip. Each purchase must be linked to an individual’s national ID to ensure that there is no stockpiling.

Experts are worried about the 5 million people who have not been fully vaccinated.