Taiwan reassures on clearing covid 'traffic jam'

As Taiwan is struggling to control the rising number of coronavirus infections in the country, the health minister has assured locals that the government will find a solution to the testing issue.

The country’s healthcare system is struggling to test people for infection and the overflow of covid tests has led to a massive delay in the reports, which the officials are referring to as a "traffic jam".

However, the health department has assured that the government is already working on clearing the backlog and finding solutions to make sure such a situation does not take place again.

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"I believe that we will quickly be able to resolve this systemic issue," Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said.

He also announced 570 positive cases which has not been included in the previous reports due to the same “traffic jam”.

However, the government is being criticised for not being able to report the right figures of positive cases.

"Today the command centre created a new expression, 'regression calibration', adding 400 new infections," Johnny Chiang, chairman of the main opposition party the Kuomintang said. "This information has terrified everyone, as the daily numbers being received were inaccurate."

This term has also brought amusement for locals in form of jokes and memes. While some are poking fun at the term, others are skeptical of the government’s capacity to handle the worsening situation.