Premier Su Tseng-chang on Thursday received a Ministry of Health and Welfare briefing on the latest COVID-19 situation in Taiwan. Although the country's COVID alert has been lowered to Level 2 and the national vaccination rate has reached 35 percent, a number of sporadic cluster and household infections were seen this week, and about a quarter of recently imported cases were linked to the Delta variant. The premier asked the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) and other ministries to continue protecting the borders without lowering the nation's guard and to strengthen disease prevention measures in all sectors to prevent any breaches.
In contrast to the situation internationally, Taiwan has maintained its daily caseload at around 10 to 20-plus new cases for nearly a month, down from a high of 600 to 700 confirmed infections during the May peak of the latest outbreak. The globally renowned news and opinion publication the Diplomat published a piece affirming Taiwan's repeat success on this front, after the nation's initial performance at the outset of the worldwide pandemic, Premier Su emphasized.
Nevertheless, the Delta variant of the virus has been spreading rapidly across the globe, and in the recent month about one quarter of the introduced cases into Taiwan have been of this strain. The premier instructed the CECC and relevant ministries and agencies that they must continue to increase disease controls at the border, strengthen measures targeting smuggling and illegal entry, and vigilantly guard against potential holes in coronavirus defense, as part of an encompassing strategy to protect Taiwan.