Daily Covid cases dip into the 50s, amid concerns over Delta variant cluster in Pingtung
Daily Covid cases reached 54 on Tuesday, June 29, with eight deaths. This was the lowest number of cases since May 15, when level three restrictions went into effect in Taipei. Daily cases also remained low today, June 30 with 55 local cases and five deaths.
However, Taiwan saw its first community spread of the Delta variant last week in Pingtung County when locals returning from Peru infected other people during their home quarantine.
In light of the decrease in cases, the Minister of Economic Affairs has allowed the “conditional” reopening of a few night and traditional markets in Taipei.
Taiwan’s foreign affairs minister Joseph Wu says Taiwan needs to be prepared for conflict with China in an interview with CNN.
Chinese disinformation was aimed at sowing divisions in Taiwan during the Covid outbreak, as reported by Financial Times.
Jimmy Lai has been in the news after he was arrested and his newspaper raided in Hong Kong. However in Taiwan, Apple Daily once dominated the local media landscape before falling in recent years to the point where the print edition was discontinued. The rise and fall of Apple Daily in Taiwan changed the local media industry, as featured by Nikkei Asia.
Several firms kept their migrant workers confined to their dorms and warned of financial penalties if they got sick during the ongoing Covid outbreak, as reported by the Telegraph.
Consumer confidence fell to an 11-month low due to the ongoing Covid outbreak, according to a survey conducted by National Central University.