Taiwan learning to live with record COVID cases, as mainland China continues strict controls | CBC News - Thomson Reuters:
May 24, 2022 - "Billed a COVID-19 success story as its economy boomed through the pandemic, Taiwan is now battling a record wave of infections as it eases restrictions that had kept outbreaks at bay to start life with the virus. For the whole of 2021, Taiwan reported less than 15,000 locally transmitted cases. Now, it's registering around 80,000 cases a day....
"'We could no longer achieve the goal of zero COVID because it was too contagious,' former vice-president Chen Chien-jen, an epidemiologist, said in a video released by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party on Sunday. Most cases in Taiwan are of the less severe Omicron variant, with more than 99.7 per cent of cases exhibiting mild or no symptoms, he said. 'This is a crisis but also an opportunity, allowing us to walk out of the shadow of COVID-19 quickly,' Chen said.
"Despite a peak of infection forecast for this week, the government is determined to end a policy that included largely closing its borders. It has relaxed restrictions, such as shortening mandatory quarantines, in what it calls the 'new Taiwan model' — gradually living with the virus and avoiding shutting down the economy.
"Unlike some countries where new case spikes overwhelmed medical systems and disrupted everyday life, Taiwan hospital beds earmarked for COVID patients are at 56 per cent occupancy. Shops, restaurants and gyms remain open, and gatherings continue, with mandatory mask-wearing. Still, the island of 23.5 million people is recording 40 to 50 deaths a day, bringing its year-to-date total to 625 deaths. Deaths stood at 838 from 2020 through to the end of 2021....
"The surge in cases is now sparking new precautions. Starting this week, classes in Taipei schools were moved online while subway ridership has fallen to about half average levels.
"'Taiwan didn't really have a choice. Naturally, we need to move on to coexist with the virus,' said Shih Hsin-ru, who leads the Research Center for Emerging Viral Infections at Taiwan's Chang Gung University. She said the government was not well prepared for the shift away from the zero COVID approach, pointing to the initial shortage of resources, from vaccines to antivirals. But things are looking better after what she described as a 'scramble' by the government. 'We are slowly getting back on track,' she said. 'We are likely to see less impact compared to neighbouring countries.'"
Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/taiwan-china-covid-outbreak-1.6463611
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