People suspected of having Covid-19 are waiting up to nine days for a confirmed result in Taiwan, as a backlog at overstretched testing facilities compounds the challenges facing authorities battling a new outbreak.
The number of people seeking Covid tests has sharply increased over the past two weeks, stretching testing facilities that are now struggling to keep up, data from Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control indicate. That’s led to frequent delays between when possible cases are first reported and when results are made available.
Taiwan’s government has decided to report a case based on when a test was taken -- rather than when there was a result -- leading to daily revisions of total infection numbers in recent days. While the intention is to keep the data as accurate as possible, it leaves officials with a less-than-perfect overview of how the case curve is developing and whether current virus-related restrictions are having any impact -- making formulating effective policy more difficult.
Wait Expectations
Rapid rise in demand for testing in Taiwan has meant delays in results
Source: Taiwan Centers for Disease Control
The health ministry reported an additional 281 new confirmed infections and six deaths on Tuesday, bringing Taiwan’s total cases to 4,285 and deaths to 35 since the pandemic began. Officials also added a further 261 backdated cases stretching as far back as May 16. The ministry says the delays are caused by transporting samples, laboratory capacity and reporting of results.
Read more: Complacency Let Covid Erode Taiwan’s Only Line of Defense
A food stall vendor at a market in Taipei on May 21.
Photographer: Billy H.C. Kwok/Bloomberg
Taiwan is fighting a surge in cases that has both threatened its status as one of the world’s biggest success stories in containing the virus, and underscored how months of relative normalcy have made it less prepared than some other places in Asia to deal with a sudden outbreak. Authorities have tightened Covid-related restrictions and are scrambling to secure more vaccines, with only enough doses on hand to fully inoculate less than 2% of its 23.5 million population.
A soft lockdown has been imposed over the past weeks, with schools, gyms and bars closed until mid-June and restaurants in Taipei only offering takeout. Offices, public transport and supermarkets remain open.
— With assistance by Cindy Wang
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May 26, 2021 at 09:12AM
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Nine-Day Wait for Covid Test Results Leaves Taiwan in Limbo - Bloomberg
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