President Tsai Ing-wen is facing perhaps the biggest crisis since she took office in 2016. On Wednesday, the Central Epidemic Command Center raised its COVID-19 alert level to Level 3 across Taiwan following a spike in domestic cases. That came a day after the total number of domestically-transmitted cases outnumbered imported ones for the first time since the pandemic began.

Speaking at the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s Central Standing Committee on Wednesday, Tsai thanked the public for standing in unity. She said the government’s top priority is to prevent the disease from spreading further, and that the “ruling party must set a good example.” She also said the DPP must have “confidence in disease prevention”, as the party has been able to cope with crises over the past five years, and “this time is no exception.”