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Reuters
Reuters
Health
Yimou Lee

Taiwan kept COVID below 15,000 cases for all 2021. Now it has 80,000 a day, testing its 'new model'

A person gets a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) test in Taipei, Taiwan, May 24, 2022. REUTERS/Ann Wang

Billed a COVID-19 success story as its economy boomed through the pandemic, Taiwan is now battling a record wave of infections as it eases restrictions that had kept outbreaks at bay to start life with the virus.

For the whole of 2021, Taiwan reported less than 15,000 locally transmitted cases. Now, it's registering around 80,000 cases a day - a startling reversal after the effectiveness of its long-standing zero-COVID policy won it international praise.

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