President Tsai Ing-wen said today that in the face of the rapid spread of the Omicron virus strain, which is mainly mild or even asymptomatic, Taiwan’s epidemic prevention strategy should continue to aim at “disaster reduction” rather than a comprehensive reset; The raging “coexistence with the virus” is an effective epidemic control. She emphasized that the goal set at this stage is to “resolve severe cases and effectively control mild cases.” It is through the “New Taiwan Model” of active anti-epidemic and stable opening, taking into account the national economic development and the normal life of the people.
President Tsai said in a Facebook post in the followingnoon. On the first working day following the holiday, Vice President Lai Qingde, former Vice President Chen Jianren, Executive President Su Zhenchang, Commander of the Central Epidemic Center Chen Shizhong, Vice President of National Taiwan University Zhang Shangchun, Director of CDC Zhou Zhihao, and Taoyuan, who guards the border once morest epidemics, were invited. Mayor Zheng Wencan and Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Qimai held an epidemic prevention strategy meeting. Everyone exchanged in-depth views and reached a high degree of consensus.
The president said that as the Omicron variant virus strain continues to spread internationally, the domestic epidemic situation has also changed recently. Many people are asking, what is Taiwan’s epidemic prevention strategy, and is it to pursue zero? Or to coexist with the virus?
The president said that the virus is constantly mutating and the epidemic situation is constantly changing. She would like to thank the epidemic prevention heroes in different positions for their tireless efforts over the past two years. There has been a substantial increase. Now, the vaccine coverage rate in Taiwan exceeds 83% for the first dose, 78% for the second dose, and 51% for the third dose.
She also said that in order to actively and effectively control the epidemic, Taiwan’s vaccine coverage, especially for the elderly, must continue to increase. The amount of medical treatment can include rapid screening reagents, and the preparation of antiviral drugs should continue to increase. Quarantine measures, such as the method of isolation, should be reviewed on a rolling basis, and the method of epidemic control should be continuously simplified to maintain the stable operation of the medical system.
The president said that it is necessary to strengthen Taiwan’s overall resilience to epidemic prevention, so that Taiwan can face the challenges of the epidemic at different stages. Regarding various epidemic prevention measures, she has also asked the command center to further report to all walks of life.
At the beginning of this year, the President once said that finding a “new Taiwan model” that takes into account both epidemic prevention and economy is one of the important goals of this year’s administration. The president said that over the past two years, Taiwan has weathered waves of epidemic challenges because of the unity of the whole people in epidemic prevention. On the way to the next stage, I hope that all citizens will continue to unite to prevent the epidemic and make Taiwan stronger.
Responsible editor: Yu Weining
