TAIPEI (TCA) — Taiwan’s Health Minister Chen Shih-chung on May 31 said the current COVID-19 outbreak in Taiwan is easing, as the number of people each patient infects on average has fallen since mid-May, Focus Taiwan reported.
Data as of May 30 shows that the Rt number in Taiwan, or the number of new infections caused by each individual patient, has fallen from a high of 15 in mid-May to 1.02, Chen said at a Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) press briefing.
The fall can be attributed to people closely following strict rules under the Level 3 COVID-19 alert, which was introduced in Taipei and New Taipei on May 15 and the rest of the country four days later, Chen said.
“The sacrifice and hard work everyone has put in has been effective,” Chen said, and he urged people to continue following epidemic prevention measures so the Rt number can be reduced to less than one over the next two weeks.
Monday was the 17th consecutive day Taiwan has reported over 100 domestically-transmitted infections, with 347 such cases and four imported cases.
As of May 31, Taiwan has reported 124 deaths from COVID-19.
Taiwan has confirmed 8,511 cases of COVID-19 since the outbreak began early in 2020, of which more than 7,000 are domestic cases reported since May 15, when Taiwan first reported over 100 domestic infections in a single day.