Taiwan reported no new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, marking the first time authorities there have reported zero new cases in more than a month. It's also the latest achievement for a health system that first acted to prevent the spread of COVID-19 back in December.
Taiwan, with a population of around 23 million, has just 393 confirmed COVID-19 cases; six people have died from the disease.
The last time Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Center announced no new cases was on
March 9 – 36 days ago.
Taiwan has won praise for
keeping the coronavirus under control despite its close links with China. Millions of people travel between the island and the mainland every year — including 2.7 million visitors from the mainland last year.
Because of its aggressive and early response to the coronavirus, Taiwan — like Hong Kong and
South Korea — has been able to avoid lockdown measures and keep many schools, restaurants and offices open.
An academic paper published in the
Journal of the American Medical Association last month credited Taiwan's government with taking 124 actions to identify potential cases of the then-emerging respiratory virus.