Why Taiwan, long a COVID success story, is seeing a record surge in cases

Hong Kong — Nearly a year and a half after COVID-19 started its surge across the planet, the streets of Taiwan's capital Taipei only now stand strangely empty. Bustling night markets for post-sunset stir-fry and steaming noodles, streets with constant streams of buzzing mopeds and the raucous bar district of Ximending, where locals and foreigners drink under the skies, have all fallen silent. 

It's a stark reversal of fortunes.  Throughout 2020, Taiwan was held up as one of the world's greatest coronavirus success stories — a streak of 253 days without a single reported infection, from April until December.