Amid doubts caused by the relatively low number of COVID-19 tests conducted in Taiwan, Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) has defended the nation’s practices, saying that large volumes of tests are only needed when sources of infection cannot be traced.
As of Wednesday last week, Taiwan had conducted 20,014 tests for the novel coronavirus, compared with 307,024 by South Korea, raising questions over whether Taiwan’s testing has been aggressive enough.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center, on Saturday last week rejected a call to conduct more COVID-19 testing, as many people have requested to be tested at their own expense.
Photo: CNA
He said that such a practice could increase the number of false negative results.
More testing “might not only not help efforts to stem the outbreak, it could even create a quarantine loophole,” Chen Shih-chung said, adding that those with false negative results could move about without taking precautions, thinking that they are free of the virus, while infecting others.
Chen Chien-jen, an epidemiologist by training, on Monday said on Facebook that the prevalence of the novel coronavirus in Taiwan is less than one per 100,000 people, and that “only a few cases have unknown sources.”
As such, the government has concentrated its testing on those who have come in contact with infected patients and those categorized as highly vulnerable to COVID-19, he said.
“Such a practice guarantees that the tests are proper and efficient, and in line with cost-benefit principles,” the vice president said.
In addition, he provided data from 13 nations that have conducted at least 15,000 tests on their volume of testing, the number of positive cases found and the prevalence of the disease in their populations.
The figures generally showed that “the lower the rate of positive tests, the broader the coverage of tests of potentially infected people,” Chen Chien-jen.
Of the 13 nations, Taiwan had five positive results for every 1,000 tests conducted, trailing only the United Arab Emirates at 0.8 positive results per 1,000 tests and Russia with 1.2 positive results per 1,000 tests, he said.
Taiwan had 0.45 infections per 100,000 people, the second-lowest ratio after Russia’s 0.14 infections per 100,000, he added.
However, Chen Chien-jen acknowledged that the correlation between positive test rates and infection rates per 100,000 people was not absolute, citing statistics from France, Belgium and South Korea, where there were about 16 infections per 100,000 people, but their positive test rates varied greatly.
While South Korea saw 27.9 positive results per 1,000 tests, Belgium reported 80.9 positive results per 1,000 tests and France 167.4 positives per 1,000 tests.
The figures suggest that South Korea and Belgium conducted more tests on people who were not infected, while France tested more people who were infected, Chen Chien-jen said.
The center said that COVID-19 tests are being conducted on “high-risk” subjects, divided into two groups: those who have come in contact with foreigners who had respiratory symptoms and a fever; and people with pneumonia or who have a fever and respiratory symptoms after returning from countries for which the highest level of travel advisory has been issued.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard