Credit Taiwan CDC
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Just days after Singapore Reimposed COVID Restrictions Following An Uptick In Community Cases, Taiwan - perhaps the biggest success story in COVID control in the world - finds itself facing its largest spike in locally acquired cases of the pandemic.
The graphic (above) hasn't been updated to show today's numbers (206 new local cases), and some of these new cases may have had onsets before this week, but the recent uptick in cases in quite apparent, leading the President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) - Tsai Ing-wen - to tweet the following announcement overnight.
Despite the call by the President of Taiwan to avoid panic buying there are media reports of shoppers buying large quantities of toilet paper, instant noodles, and other staples in the wake of yesterday's announcement.
Five days ago, in Taiwan Raises COVID Alert Level, Bans Large Events, and Limits Hospital Visits Due to Rising Cases, we saw the first hints of trouble when local cases had risen into double digits.
Over the past two days - in part, likely due to a surge in testing - Taiwan has reported local cases rising roughly 10-fold, into triple digits.
While much of our focus has been on the rapidly spreading B.1.617.2 variant of COVID, it isn't clear how much of a factor it - or any other variant - may be having on Taiwan's recent surge in cases.
On Friday we looked at a similar, albeit much smaller, surge in Singapore. As of this writing, their MOH has not updated today's numbers.
Meanwhile in Vietnam - which has been among the most successful nations in the world combating COVID - Xinhua news is reporting 127 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases yesterday, their largest daily total since the pandemic began.
Regardless of the reasons behind these three abrupt reversals of fortune, this week's surge in Asia is a reminder that despite recent gains, the coronavirus pandemic if far from over.
