Taiwan faces largest COVID-19 outbreak yet

By HUIZHONG WU
Associated Press

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan had been living mostly free of COVID-19 until this month. The island is now facing its worst outbreak since the beginning of the pandemic. Chen Shih-chung, the island’s health minister, announced they had found more than 11,000 new cases Thursday, along with two deaths. Cases have been on the upswing since late March. In April, the island’s central authorities announced they would no longer maintain a “zero-COVID” policy like the Chinese government’s in which they would centrally quarantine positive cases. A system was rolled out Thursday that limits each person to buying one pack of five COVID-19 tests per trip. Each purchase must be linked to an individual’s national ID to ensure there is no stockpiling.