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So far, the situation with the coronavirus in Taiwan is the best in the world: the last new case of the disease was detected in the country on April 12, and there is no talk of a second wave, which is already suffocating in many countries.
What 23 million. island population did well? In Taiwan, a total of 550 people were diagnosed with the new coronavirus, killing only seven. Experts say the decision to close the borders and strict travel controls have been a big help in overcoming the virus.
Other factors include close contact tracking, technology-based quarantine, and mandatory use of protective masks. Furthermore, the painful experience of SARS in the past has disciplined and treated people effectively and responsibly.
“Taiwan is the only major country that has so far been able to effectively control the spread of COVID,” said Peter Collignon, professor of infectious diseases at the Australian State University School of Medicine.
According to him, “Taiwan has possibly shown the best performance in the world”, which is even more impressive considering that it is an economy the size of Australia’s population, where people live quite crowded and mainly in apartments.
Taiwan is one of the few economies facing growth this year, not a recession. In August, the country’s GDP was forecast to grow 1.56 percent in 2020.
However, even Taiwan, which is doing so well, cannot rest easy, with twenty cases of imports in the last two weeks, mostly from Southeast Asian countries like the Philippines and Indonesia. Additionally, there are more cases in which countries that thought they had the virus under control (such as Singapore and Japan) subsequently experienced an increase in cases.
The only thing another state can learn from Taiwan is that without trying to track down those who have had contact with the patient and without isolation, nothing can be done, former Taiwan vice president and epidemiologist Chen Chien Jen said in an interview.
In addition, forcing people to comply with the quarantine, a task that is not easy. Taiwan was taking steps at the time to provide those people with food and necessities, including some friendly contact via Live Bot, a communication robot.
No fines: violators of the quarantine conditions were threatened with fines of up to 35 thousand. Dollars.
Here’s how Taiwan reached its goal:
Border control
As soon as the pandemic broke out in January, Taiwan closed its borders to all foreigners and, since then, border controls have been kept extremely strict.
“The secret to Taiwan’s success is extremely strict border controls,” said Jason Wang, director of the Center for Policy, Consequences and Prevention at Stanford University. This includes both symptom-based pre-flight monitoring and digital solutions to ensure that those subject to self-isolation are subject to two weeks of quarantine.
Protective mask division
The decision to stockpile and then centrally distribute protective face masks played a huge role in Taiwan’s success story. As soon as the pandemic broke out, the authorities gathered all the protective masks manufactured in the country in one place and prohibited their export.
In four months, the companies increased their production volume by 2 million. up to 20 million units per day, so the islanders were able to change their masks regularly without any problems and take care of their own safety and the safety of those around them.
Establishment of contact, quarantine
Taiwan has set an example to the world in how to network: a patient is linked to an average of 20 to 30 other people. In extreme cases, officers were able to track up to 150 people with whom the patient had close contact.
Everyone who was in contact, even if their test was negative, had to shut down for two weeks of quarantine.
So far, 340,000 people had to isolate themselves in their homes. less than a thousand people were sanctioned for non-compliance and 99.7 percent. He diligently followed the instructions. “We donate 340 thousand. People in 14 days for an average of 23 million. People’s lives,” explains Chen Chien Jen.
Lessons from SARS
The painful lessons of the latest epidemic have greatly helped Taiwan cope with this crisis. Following the SARS experience in 2003, when hundreds of people fell ill and at least 73 died (Taiwan was the third-sickest country in the world), the country established an emergency response network to control infectious diseases.
Later, Taiwan had to endure bird flu and H1N1 flu. Therefore, there is no need to urge islanders to wash their hands and wear protective masks.
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