By Huizhong Wu, Associated Press — Thursday 27 May 2021
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Praised for its success at keeping COVID-19 away for more than a year, Taiwan had until May recorded just 1,128 cases and 12 deaths. But the number of locally transmitted cases began growing sharply this month, and it quickly became clear the central government was ill-prepared not only to contain the virus but to detect it on a large scale, due to insufficient investment in rapid testing. New infections climbed to some 300 per day.
The government’s response had relied on PCR tests, which are seen as the gold standard but must be processed in labs — creating backlogs. One lab in New Taipei city received 400 samples in a single day but could only process about 120, with medical technicians leaving work at midnight. The government had long not encouraged rapid tests, and Taiwanese companies that developed rapid tests early had mostly sold overseas. The government finally appeared to come around, with the health minister asking local governments to set up rapid testing sites and offering subsidies for labs to buy new machines. The outbreak was traced to a cluster involving China Airlines pilots who had been required only to quarantine for three days and did not need a negative test to be released. The virus spread from hotel workers to their families. Only about 1% of Taiwan’s population had been vaccinated at the time of the outbreak.