Taiwan promises quick fix to COVID testing issue after criticism

TAIPEI - Taiwan's health minister promised on Sunday to resolve a logjam with reporting positive COVID-19 tests after abruptly raising case numbers, a move that prompted criticisms from opposition politicians and jokes online about questionable statistics.

Taiwan is dealing with a spike in cases after months of keeping the pandemic well under control, with restrictions in place across the island to limit gatherings. On Saturday and Sunday, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung announced a total of 570 new cases whose positive tests had not been included in previous reports due to reporting delays following the surge in cases.