Taiwan Marks 200 Days Without New Domestically Transmitted COVID-19 Cases

Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control reported Thursday the nation has now gone 200 days without any domestically transmitted cases of COVID-19, highlighting the island's continued success at keeping the virus under control even as cases surge in other parts of the world.

The government health agency last reported a domestic case on April 12. CDC officials noted the milestone and thanked the public for playing a role, while urging people to continue to wear masks and wash their hands often.

At a news conference in Taipei, CDC spokesman Chuang Jen-hsiang credited the people of Taiwan for abiding by the CDC’s COVID-19 regulations, including self-quarantining at home, submitting to inspections at airports and participation in contact-tracing programs.

Since the pandemic began, Taiwan has recorded 553 cases of COVID-19, and just seven deaths. While it has stopped domestic transmission, it continues to record new cases in people arriving from abroad.

The CDC did report three Thursday new COVID-19 cases that came into the country from overseas. The reports said a woman traveling from the United States, a man returning from the Philippines, and an Indonesian woman all tested positive for the virus in recent days and submitted themselves for quarantine.

Taiwan has been pointed to as a success story in how to respond to the pandemic, especially considering its close business and tourism ties with China, where the virus first emerged late last year.

Its success has in part been attributed to acting very early in the pandemic. The Journal of the American Medical Association reports Taiwanese officials were checking passengers on flights from Wuhan, the Chinese city where the pandemic began, as early as Dec. 31 for fever and pneumonia symptoms.