CORONAVIRUS/Taiwan's COVID-19 infection rate does not justify mass testing: CECC

Taipei, April 28 (CNA) The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Tuesday there is no need for mass testing for the COVID-19 coronavirus in Taiwan, as the rate of infection so far has been quite low.

Over the past 100 days, some 4.8 million people sought medical attention or reported to health authorities that they had coronavirus-like symptoms, and 60,956 of them were tested, said Health Minister and CECC head Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) at a press conference on the 100th day since the center was established.

Of the 60,956 people tested, only 429 were confirmed to be infected with COVID-19, Chen said, adding that authorities could not identify the source of infection in only 10 cases.

With an infection rate of around 0.7 percent among those tested and 0.009 percent among those who reported COVID-like symptoms, there is no need to move toward mass testing, as public health experts have been advocating, Chen said.

The situation in Taiwan is different than in countries like South Korea and Italy, where large numbers of infections have been recorded and lockdowns and mass testing became necessary, he said, in an apparent response to a suggestion made two weeks ago by public health experts that testing could be expanded using a rapid diagnostic test.

Read more: Focus Taiwan