Taiwan has a new health minister. Hsueh Jui-yuan, who is currently the deputy health minister, will take up his new role in the next few days.
The post was empty because former Health Minister Chen Shih-chung quit his job on Thursday to run for mayor of Taipei.
Chen was also the head of Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Center. In that role, he received praise for managing the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic for the past two and a half years.
Hsueh will not take up that position after Chen. Instead, Taiwan’s Cabinet has appointed health official Victor Wang.
The Cabinet has also created a new role for health official Chang Shan-chwen. He’ll become the Cabinet’s top advisor for fighting COVID-19. Government officials say the new position was inspired by the role Anthony Fauci has played for the White House in the United States.