As the COVID-19 situation grows in severity, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) has raised the COVID-19 alert levels for Taipei and New Taipei cities to Level 3. At an Executive Yuan press conference Saturday, Premier Su Tseng-chang said Taiwan is now facing a new set of challenges. To stem the spread of the virus and protect high-risk communities and the entire nation, the government must necessarily implement stronger and more immediate measures and guidelines in accordance with the Communicable Disease Control Act and other laws. The government will harness all of its disease prevention resources to combat the new variants and new challenges. Premier Su called on the general public to unite in a cooperative spirit so that the nation can get through this difficult time together.
Over the past year-plus the people of Taiwan have rallied to keep COVID-19 contained. Around the world, however, wave upon wave of infections have given rise to new variants that are more transmissible and spread faster, bringing new challenges right to Taiwan's shores. According to tests and reports by CECC experts, the recent surge in domestic transmissions may all be traced to the same coronavirus variant, and the cases share the same genomic sequence of the variant, the premier said.
Taiwan already has comprehensive mechanisms in place, having accumulated significant experience from combating COVID-19 over the past year, Premier Su said. He assured the public that medical resources, life support equipment and pandemic stockpiles are in plentiful supply. Confronted with the arrival of new virus variants, the government will harness all of its disease-control resources—while minimizing disruptions to people's lives—to fight the virus and tackle the new challenges.
The coronavirus has wreaked havoc on countries around the world. Even in the face of the new developments, however, Taiwan is taking control of the situation, the premier said. He expressed hope that members of the public will stand ever more firmly together to fight the virus, so that Taiwan can get through this time and win the war against COVID-19.
For more information on these disease control measures, please visit the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control.