Taiwan, which had been living mostly free of the coronavirus, is now facing its worst outbreak since the beginning of the pandemic.
The island reported 11,000 new cases on Thursday, following a rise that has been going on since late March.
In April, the island’s central authorities announced they would no longer maintain a “zero-COVID” policy, as seen in mainland China, which would require them to 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.
Chen Shih-chung, the island’s health minister, announced on Thursday they had found 11,353 new cases, along with two deaths.
He added that 99.7% of these cases had mild to no symptoms.
Most of Taiwan’s 858 COVID-19 deaths came from summer 2021 and until this month, it had been the island’s one major outbreak in the pandemic.
Strict border controls combined with a two-week quarantine on arrival for all visitors has kept numbers relatively low, but in the last few weeks they have ratcheted up.
Masks are legally required on public transportation and in places like shops and theatres.
Just under 79% of the island’s 24 million population has received two doses of a COVID vaccine, and 59% have received a booster shot.
