Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Tuesday urged vigilance against the spread of the coronavirus after the island detected its first cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant spreading in the community.
Taiwan has kept the pandemic well under control because of early and effective prevention, including largely closing its borders. Most cases of its cases have been imported from abroad, though the island did see an outbreak of domestic infections in the middle of 2021.
Another person, a cleaner working at the island’s main international airport, was “likely” to be infected with the Omicron variant, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said.
“Most importantly, please get a vaccination as soon as possible.”
In the northern city of Taoyuan, where the airport is located, several coronavirus testing centres were set up on streets while a rule on wearing masks at all times was reintroduced.
Taiwan has vaccinated about 70% of its 23.5 million people and the government is offering incentives such as shopping coupons to boost the rate.