A CHINESE mainland spokesperson Monday expressed the willingness to provide assistance to Taiwan compatriots in quickly defeating the COVID-19 epidemic.

Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, was responding to a media query on a recent appeal from Taiwan’s New Party and other social groups to the Democratic Progressive Party authority regarding the receipt of COVID-19 vaccines from the mainland.

Expressing the mainland’s concern over Taiwan’s recent severe epidemic situation, Zhu said she hoped Taiwan compatriots would be able to contain the virus as soon as possible and return to normal life.

It is urgent to remove political obstacles on the island so that Taiwan compatriots can gain access to the vaccine and their health and well-being can be guaranteed, Zhu said.

Taiwan yesterday confirmed 245 new COVID cases, of which 240 were classified as local infections, as well as two deaths, according to the local disease monitoring agency.

This is the fourth consecutive day that the island’s daily local infections exceeded 100, the agency said, adding that 128 female and 112 male patients, aged under five to over 90, were among the newly reported local cases.

The two deaths include a woman in her 60s and a man in his 80s, both of whom tested positive for COVID-19 two days ago.

To stem the spread of the infection, all schools across Taiwan will remain closed from May 19 to 28.

The island yesterday also reported five new imported cases from Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan and the Philippines.

Taiwan is in the midst of its worst outbreak since the onset of the pandemic, with more than 1,000 local cases reported during the past week.

The total number of confirmed cases on the island has risen to 2,260, including 14 deaths, the agency said.(Xinhua)