Taiwan virus free for over 200 days

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) – Taiwan has not reported a single coronavirus case for more than 200 days now.

Friday marks the 201st day without any local infection reported in the island nation.

The last case was reported on April 12, daily Taiwan News reported.

Taiwan’s fight against COVID-19 has won international acclaim.

US Senator Bernie Sanders said in a tweet: “Taiwan has been coronavirus-free for 200 days. It has had only 550 COVID-19 cases and 7 deaths. How'd they do it? They believe in science. Testing, contact tracing, quarantining, distributing masks and guaranteeing health care to all. We should do the same.”

Earlier, other countries including Vietnam, Thailand, and New Zealand had set records of no local infections for 100, 101, and 102 days.

Taiwan did not impose lockdown in the country, but, encouraged public to wear masks.

It also enforced travel restrictions, quarantine and led targeted testing and contact tracing.

Taiwan’s success against the coronavirus has been linked to its lessons learnt from SARS 17 years ago when the island nation suffered the highest mortality rate in the world.

Taiwan has reported 553 cases, including seven deaths.

A total of 33 coronavirus patients are in hospitals getting treatment.

Ever since first reported in Wuhan city of China last December, COVID-19 has affected over 45 million people across the globe.

Over 1.18 million people have lost their lives due to the coronavirus infection.