Before the discovery of domestic infections on December 22, Taiwan spent 253 "clean" days of Covid-19, an achievement that was once unmatched.

Taiwanese health officials earlier this week announced a 30-year-old woman became the first domestic case of nCoV on the island since April 12.

Taiwan had essentially controlled this outburst, but it set off alarming that Covid-19 could break even the most fortified of defenses.

A year after the first cases of "strange viral pneumonia" were reported in the city of Wuhan, China, the war with Covid-19 across the Asia-Pacific region became increasingly apparent.

Japan and South Korea are recording record numbers of new infections.

A new outbreak has emerged despite the impressive successes of most of the above administrations in their war with Covid-19 over the past 12 months.

In some countries such as China, Vietnam, Singapore and New Zealand, the number of new infections is relatively low.

A new strain of nCoV appeared in the UK has also been detected in a number of Asian countries, further raising concerns about foreign infections.

"There is a relatively high chance that a passenger with a virus will return to these countries right now," said Raina MacIntyre, professor of global biosecurity at the University of New South Wales in Sydney.

Taiwan, an island with nearly 24 million people, has been considered a successful anti-epidemic model in the world, with fewer than 800 cases and only 7 deaths.

After receiving the first case in more than eight months, Taiwan leader Thai Anh Van said the case was a reminder of the need to remain vigilant.

Although once the first country outside of China to officially report a Covid-19 infection, Thailand has avoided major outbreaks in the past year and has only recorded more than 4,000 cases, of which 60 deaths,

But on December 17, a worker at the Samut Sakhon provincial seafood market tested positive for nCoV.

Meanwhile in Australia, the state of New South Wales, home to the city of Sydney, is also fighting a new small outbreak.

Violations of foreign quarantine regulations at hotels could be the cause of this outbreak.

On December 21, Australian officials said they had found several cases of the new strain of nCoV in quarantined British passengers.

The Australian Government announced on December 23 to loosen some restrictions during the Christmas wave, after only eight new infections were detected in nearly 42,000 test samples.

In order to prevent foreign infections that endanger the community, Australia has banned entry to nearly all non-residents and even limited the number of citizens who can return to a few thousand per week.

South Korea, one of the countries once hailed as an anti-epidemic role model, is also struggling with its worst outbreak.

"It's hard to control without shutting down unless you can roll out the vaccination," says Professor MacIntyre.

In the past week, the country reported a new record for the number of new infections in the day with nearly 1,100 cases on December 20.

Soonman Kwon, professor of health economics and policy at Seoul National University, says the new surge is due to a combination of causes, such as winter weather and population fatigue after nearly one.

Hong Kong also continues to fight the 4th wave of Covid-19 this year.

The special zone government has imposed strict restrictions, such as banning gathering of more than two people, and banning food and drink services in restaurants after 6pm.

Despite the above measures, the number of new infections has decreased very little in the past 4 weeks.

On December 22, Hong Kong banned all flights from the UK to avoid the risk of spreading a new strain of nCoV that British scientists say is 70% more infectious.

Japan is also not immune from the new outbreak and even faces an increasingly serious pandemic situation.

Many hospitals in Japan face overcrowding.

Critics say the outbreak showed weak leadership, a lack of scientific knowledge and a delayed government response to the pandemic.

Researchers at the University of Tokyo and the University of California point out that those who participate in the government's domestic tourism promotion campaign are two times more likely to be infected with nCoV than others, though the government rejects the conclusion

Kentaro Iwata, an infectious disease expert at Kobe University, says winter and people's psychological fatigue from Covid-19 are also two factors that complicate the pandemic.

Hassan Vally, associate professor of public health at La Trobe University in Melbourne, said the new surge in infections in the Asia-Pacific shows that the virus can attack anywhere to reveal a loophole.

"Infection control is only a temporary measure and this is the world in which we will live with repeated outbreaks. Until the vaccine is in place, we have to move on with all the measures we have."