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Although Taiwan detected its first case of the virus on January 21, a month earlier than New Zealand, the East Asian country has reported significantly fewer infections per million people (20.7 vs. 278.0 confirmed COVID-19 cases per million inhabitants, respectively).
According to its latest data, Taiwan has recorded only 544 COVID-19 cases in a population of more than 23.8 million, 495 of which are considered to have recovered. Seven people have died from the virus.
In New Zealand’s team of five million, there have been 1,556 confirmed cases and 25 deaths. Twenty-five new infections were reported Wednesday, though 23 were imported.
The researchers acknowledged that Taiwan already had an extensive public health infrastructure before the pandemic. Traced largely after the SARS outbreak in 2003, the systems were developed so that they could adapt to new pathogens, allowing the government to respond more quickly and proactively to COVID. In doing so, the country avoided a strict lockdown, an aggressive method that New Zealand implemented twice this year to eliminate the spread of the virus.
Based on the notes, the study authors have identified key aspects of both models that could be adopted elsewhere, as countries around the world continue to grapple with COVID-19. The researchers agreed that Taiwan had a more proactive response while New Zealand’s approach was more reactive, noting that Taiwan is in a “stronger economic position” because it avoids lockdown measures.
Given that, there are elements of Taiwan’s COVID response that New Zealand could learn from, in preparation for a potentially much more serious future pandemic.
Border measures
Unlike New Zealand, Taiwan immediately implemented health screenings for all air passengers beginning December 31, the same day the outbreak in Wuhan was reported to the World Health Organization. By the end of January, its health officials had already implemented more extensive border controls for all new arrivals.
New Zealand’s first case, recorded on February 26, initially coincided with the first set of entry restrictions for Chinese foreign nationals. Although both New Zealand and Taiwan did not impose broader restrictions on non-citizens until March, when New Zealand officially closed its borders to non-residents on March 19, the earlier introduction of screening measures in Taiwan “has likely had a bearing on the relatively low numbers, “according to the researchers.
Contact tracking
Taiwan’s well-developed pandemic plan has also relied heavily on extensive contact tracing through manual and digital approaches and access to travel histories, the researchers noted, resulting in “fewer locally acquired cases.”
The study found that New Zealand’s contact tracing could have been strengthened by developing its digital method, the NZ COVID Tracer app, more quickly.
The ‘digital diary’ technology, which allows New Zealanders to record their movements in the event of an outbreak in the community, was not available until May and “had limited functionality with poor initial acceptance by the public,” the study noted. . Since then, a manual function has been added that allows Kiwis to document locations where there are no QR codes.
As of Wednesday, there were 2,311,700 registered users on NZ COVID Tracer. TThe app has logged a total of 95,433,191 poster scans and users have created 3,985,810 manual journal entries.
More expensive
As in many Asian countries that had experience with SARS, Taiwan already had an established culture of public mask use. It also has a policy that supports the production and distribution of masks to all residents, ensures supply, and provides universal access to surgical masks during the COVID-19 pandemic beginning in February, the study noted.
Taiwan also required the public to wear masks indoors and out, especially in the subway, even during periods without evidence of community transmission.
In contrast, New Zealand health officials did not promote the use of face masks until August, despite science-based advocacy from a broad base of clinical and public health experts around the world. Only after the Auckland outbreak in August, health officials ordered the use of masks on airplanes and public transport. However, they are no longer essential at level 1 of the alert levels framework.
Public health infrastructure
Unlike New Zealand, Taiwan also had a national alert system and a strong public health response before the emergence of COVID-19, allowing its government to respond quickly to the outbreak. The study authors recommend the following:
- Implement improved national and regional disease and outbreak surveillance systems, including sentinel surveillance and specialized systems such as wastewater analysis.
- Develop effective border management policies that can be quickly implemented.
- establish stronger quarantine rules and safer facilities for inbound travelers
- further develop conventional and digital solutions for contact tracing and isolation / quarantine control
- Develop an effective means of distribution and promotion of face masks in the event of a border control failure.
The study also recommends developing systems to assess responses to a pandemic and has suggested that an official investigation into New Zealand’s response “would be valuable” given its comparison with Taiwan. The research would help shape necessary changes in our public health laws and infrastructure, the study says.
Read the full study and its recommendations here.
