Taiwan at zero Covid-19 cases after worst outbreak but restrictions to remain

Health minister says the situation has stabilised but urges Taiwanese to be vigilant to keep virus at bay

Four people have died after receiving the home-grown Medigen jab and the cause is being investigated

Reading Time:2 minutes

Taiwan’s health minister said the situation will be monitored for the next two weeks before any decision on easing restrictions is made. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:15pm, 25 Aug 2021Updated: 10:32pm, 25 Aug 2021

Taiwan has recorded no new locally transmitted Covid-19 infections for the first time since its worst outbreak began in late April.

More than 800 people have been killed in the island-wide outbreak, and the health minister on Wednesday said there was no immediate plan to ease restrictions.

“We have finally recorded zero local cases today, which is happy news for all of us, but this does not mean we will have no more locally transmitted infections, and all we can say is that the situation in Taiwan has stabilised,” Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said.

He called on the island’s 23.5 million people to stay alert and vigilant to keep the virus at bay, particularly given the spread of the highly transmissible Delta strain elsewhere.

“We must continue to monitor the situation in the next two weeks before we decide to ease the current restrictions,” he said, adding that border controls would remain in place as the pandemic continued to rage in other parts of the world.

Chen said the coastguard and other agencies had also been directed to step up border security.

A health worker disinfects a vaccination centre in Taipei on Monday. Photo: Bloomberg

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x