Taiwan: Taipei closes bars and entertainment venues amid new wave of Covid

Audio 01:19

In Taipei, Taiwan, May 12, 2021. REUTERS - ANN WANG

Text by: RFI Follow

4 min

Singapore, South Korea, these rather victorious countries in the face of Covid-19 are today facing a new epidemic wave.

This is the case in Taiwan where several cities in the country have just decided to close bars and entertainment venues after the discovery of sources of contamination.

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With our correspondent in Taipei,

Adrien Simorre   

The terraces of the bars of Red Square in central Taipei are living their last hours.

At midnight, like sports halls or libraries, all will have to close indefinitely.

"

We hurried over to have a last drink before the bars closed!"

Then we will stay at home wisely and avoid going out.

I think it's important for everyone to cooperate,

”says Chen-Wei, a 22-year-old client.

Between the mesh of the net ...

The Red Square is located a hundred meters from Wanhua.

It is in this popular district of Taipei that a dozen cases have been discovered in recent days.

Taiwan had yet succeeded in containing the epidemic thanks to strict quarantines at the entrance to its territory, but several cases have fallen through the cracks.

We can say that the district of Wanhua has today become an epidemic cluster,"

said Tsai Jun-Wei, spokesperson for the mayor's party of Taipei.

There are many possible chains of contamination, and we can no longer predict the spread of the virus.

So, for the first time, we chose to install rapid testing stations so that people with symptoms can get tested.

"

The episode is a real challenge for Taiwan, where less than 1% of the population has been vaccinated.

Collateral effect of the crisis: all the vaccination slots are now complete.

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  • Taiwan

  • Coronavirus

  • Vaccines