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Taiwan will not 'cruelly' lock down like China: premier

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Agence France-Presse

<div> </div><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="People wear mask as they play inside an arcade shop in New Taipei city, Taiwan, 28 April 2022. Taiwan" s="" Central="" Epidemic="" Command="" Center="" on="" April="" reported="" new="" COVID-19="" cases="" as="" well="" two="" deaths="" from="" the="" disease="" within="" first="" time="" it="" over="" daily="" in="" country.="" Ritchie="" B.="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/overseas/05/01/05012022-people-wear-mask.jpg"/><figcaption>People wear mask as they play inside an arcade shop in New Taipei city, Taiwan, 28 April 2022. Taiwan&#x27;s Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on 28 April reported 11,517 new COVID-19 cases as well as two deaths from the disease within 24 hours, the first time it reported over 10,000 daily cases in the country. <em>Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>TAIPEI, Taiwan - Taiwan will not act &quot;as cruelly as China&quot; in imposing lockdowns, its premier said Sunday, despite surging coronavirus infection numbers.</p><p>The self-governing island recorded more than 10,000 new cases for the first time on Thursday, as the government moves from its zero-Covid strategy and begins living with the virus.</p><p>That figure hit 16,936 on Sunday.</p><p>Taiwan&#x27;s shift leaves neighbouring China -- including its financial hub Hong Kong -- as the only major economy still sticking to a zero-tolerance policy even as Omicron breaks through defences and forces painful lockdowns.</p><p>&quot;We will not lock down the country and cities as cruelly as China,&quot; Premier Su Tseng-chang told reporters before a top government meeting on pandemic prevention.</p><p>&quot;Countries all over the world have been opening up to live with the virus. Taiwan... will continue to move towards living normal lives and gradually head to a new phase in epidemic prevention,&quot; he said at the meeting.</p><p>The barbed comment from Su -- whose ruling party leans towards Taiwanese independence -- comes after years of heightened tension between China and the island, which Beijing views as part of its territory.</p><p>Taiwan has largely closed its borders and implemented strict quarantine rules throughout the pandemic, keeping infection numbers low.</p><p>An outbreak last year prompted the temporary reimposition of economically painful social distancing measures until it was brought under control.</p><p>Infections are once again rising but the island&#x27;s leaders have signalled they will follow other former zero-Covid economies such as Singapore, Australia and New Zealand by opening up.</p><p>Health minister Chen Shih-chung warned last week that Taiwan&#x27;s daily case count could more than double to 37,000 in a week.</p><p>But, according to Taiwan&#x27;s health ministry, more than 99.7 percent of 89,990 infections recorded since January 1 this year have been mild or asymptomatic.</p><p>Around 80 percent of the population are double vaccinated, while nearly 60 percent have taken a third shot.</p><p>The government has begun a new plan to shorten home isolation for close contacts of Covid-19 cases to three days, down from 10, if a rapid antigen test proves to be negative at the end of the isolation period.</p><p>It is also considering relaxing the 10-day quarantine rules for foreign arrivals.</p><p>Since the pandemic began Taiwan has reported 132,955 cases and 868 related deaths.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><strong>FROM THE ARCHIVES</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hWmsKdtLy5A?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Taiwan will not act 'as cruelly as China' in imposing lockdowns, its premier said Sunday, despite surging coronavirus infection numbers.