The New Power Party is calling on the government to step up testing for COVID-19 so as to better contain the disease.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, party lawmaker Chiu Hsien-chih said that only stepping up testing and offering more people government-funded PCR tests will keep COVID-19 at bay.
PCR or polymerase chain reaction is a common laboratory technique used to make many copies of a particular region of DNA.
Chiu said that data released by local governments shows that there are many asymptomatic cases of community transmission in Taiwan. He urged the Central Epidemic Command Center to follow the example of other countries by finding the “hidden transmission chain” by offering mass testing.
Chiu said that although Taiwan’s capacity for testing has risen to 50,000 people daily, with a maximum of 90,000 people, Taiwan’s testing rate is far below that of Japan and Singapore.
Chiu said people who have come into contact with confirmed cases should conduct PCR tests before leaving quarantine. He said the government should lower the price of PCR tests paid for out of pocket, increase the number of government-funded PCR tests and offer subsidies to high-risk groups.