As it happened: Independent Covid inquiry to give answers public deserves - PM - BBC News
Boris Johnson announces an independent inquiry looking into coronavirus in the UK will start next spring.
Masks could become mandatory in Taiwan if restrictions are further tightened Image caption: Masks could become mandatory in Taiwan if restrictions are further tightened

Taiwan could be heading for a near lockdown, as a result of numerous outbreaks on the island over the last couple of weeks.

There have been a spate of cases in Yilan County and the city of Taipei, linked to an arcade and an airport hotel respectively.

Yesterday, Taiwan increased its alert level from Level 1 to 2, meaning that large-scale indoor and outdoor activities are now banned.

President Tsai Ing-wen called on citizens to follow the rules in a tweet.

However, according to Focus Taiwan, Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Centre “appears ready to further raise the alert level to Level 3” , in light of Taiwan confirming 16 cases in a single day, “the highest number reported… since the outbreak began”.

Taiwan has four Covid-19 response levels, and a Level 3 alert would “stop short of a lockdown”. Masks would become mandatory, and all but essential businesses would close. Gatherings would also be restricted.

This would be unprecedented, as Taiwan has not had to resort to a Level 3 lockdown throughout the pandemic. It has been something of a success story, having only recorded 1,210 Covid-19 cases throughout. It has a population of 23.8 million.

The majority of these cases were reported very early on in the pandemic, peaking in April 2020. However, swift travel bans and strict quarantine measures led to Taiwan subsequently being able to go 253 days without reporting a single case of Covid-19 in 2020.