Taiwan reported 551 local cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, the highest daily count this year. Still, Taiwan's health minister says that the peak of this recent spike has yet to come.
Health Minister Chen Shih-chung says that Taiwan's daily local case count is likely to hit 1,000 cases by the end of April. Chen sat down with TV pundit Clara Chou on Tuesday to discuss Taiwan's plan for handling the most recent outbreak.
Chen says that Taiwan plans to buy rapid test kits in bulk to increase their availability and affordability. He says that making rapid tests more convenient will make it easier to detect COVID-19 cases sooner, especially since the Omicron variant spreads more rapidly.
Chen says that residents in high-risk areas like Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, and Taoyuan will be able to apply for test kits, and the local governments will distribute them freely to districts that need them most. The minister says that the price of these kits should eventually drop to less than NT$200 (US$6.86) for the general public.
Chen says that this recent wave of COVID-19 cases should wane by the end of June. Host Clara Chou mentioned that this could potentially give him enough time to focus on running for Taipei mayor, but Chen declined to make any official confirmation of his run.
Although the case numbers are rising up to the peaks of last summer, for now it looks like Taiwan's government is taking a different approach to handle the latest outbreak.