Taiwan President tests negative after scare

TAIPEI • Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has tested negative for Covid-19 after a worker at her home was confirmed to be infected, her spokesman said, as the island reported 286 new domestic cases amid a spike in infections.

Presidential office spokesman Xavier Chang said a member of staff who helped look after the dogs at Ms Tsai's residence tested positive on Wednesday. He added that Ms Tsai and 24 of her staff were immediately tested but found to be negative.

Taiwan's tally yesterday was a slight rise from the previous day but enough to offer Health Minister Chen Shih-chung cause for a sliver of optimism that the situation was not dramatically worsening.

Having been held up as an example of how to successfully stop the virus in its tracks, Taiwan has over the past two weeks reported a spiralling number of 1,572 infections in the community.

The latest daily tally was up on the 267 infections reported on Wednesday. There was one new death, an elderly woman who lived on her own and had underlying health conditions, bringing the death toll since the pandemic began to 15.

Mr Chen said the percentage of confirmed cases was falling among people being tested in the capital, Taipei, and neighbouring New Taipei City, where the worst of the outbreak has been concentrated. "At present, it seems like the trend is not deteriorating sharply," he told a news briefing.

While ministers say the medical system overall is coping well with the rise in infections, strains are starting to show. In Taipei, officials are appealing for retired medical staff to step forward and help.

Taiwan is at its second-highest Covid-19 alert level. While restrictions on gatherings are in place with entertainment venues closed, the island has not gone into a total lockdown.

In a sign of hope for Taiwan, more than 400,000 new vaccines arrived on Wednesday via the Covax sharing initiative for lower-income economies. The new batch adds to 300,000 doses already received which are rapidly depleting.

Taiwan has received only AstraZeneca shots so far, with less than 1 per cent of its more than 23 million people vaccinated, after being caught up in global supply problems.

REUTERS