On the streets of the island’s capital, Taipei, pedestrians are more concerned with staying out of the midday sun than maintaining any sign of social distance. Large lines line the sidewalk as people enter popular lunch-time restaurants. And in nearby parks, large groups of young people exercise and practice dancing.
In fact, there are some if any visible signs This is 2020 and the world is in the grip of a terrible epidemic.
And in Taiwan as a whole, an island with a population of about 23 million people, about 500 have been confirmed since the onset of the epidemic and only 7 people have died.
And even though it is only 130 kilometers (81 miles) from China, in the country where the virus was first diagnosed.
The secret of success
One of the main reasons for Taiwan’s success The speed of having a virus is.
The island’s leaders did their job quickly Rumors of an unknown virus spread online in the Chinese city of Wuhan and there are unconfirmed reports of patients being isolated.
Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu told CNN it was fatal The outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003 taught him a lot. “At that time Taiwan was hit very hard and then we started to increase our ability to deal with this kind of epidemic,” Wu said.
“So, when we heard that there are some cases of latent pneumonia in China where patients are treated in isolation, we knew it was something like that.”
Even before Beijing publicly acknowledged the gravity of the virus, Wu said Taiwanese health officials had begun investigating passengers arriving from Wuhan and had imposed additional travel restrictions.
The world waited for more information, so Taiwan activated its Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), J Coordinates various ministries in emergencies, and brought in the military to increase production of masks and PPEs.
Those early, early responses to an outbreak in China – and readiness to take action – were crucial to stopping the spread of the virus in Taiwan, potentially saving thousands of lives.
From December 31, 2019, direct flights from Wuhan, China were monitored and all passengers passed the health screen.
Taiwan’s Center for Disease Control announced on January 20 that it had sent two experts to Wuhan to “get more detailed information on the outbreak.”
A day later, Taiwan confirmed the case of its first report of the novel coronavirus. Wuhan residents were barred from entry and all passengers from China, Hong Kong and Macau were checked.
All of this happened before Wuhan himself went into lockdown on January 23. And by March, Taiwan had banned all foreign countries from entering the island, except for diplomats, those with resident visas with special entry visas.
Dr. Jason Wang, director of Stanford University’s Center for Policy, Outcome and Prevention, said that places like Taiwan “operate on the conservative side, so when it was not clear how it spread,” I’m going to wear a mask and they got it right. “
Another key to success, according to Foreign Minister Wu and outside experts: be honest about the risks.
Wu said he was giving daily briefings, daily and sometimes twice a day in a very transparent manner to shorten the population and make people trust the government to take action on the matter.
According to Wuna, the trust has helped ensure that masks are worn, hands are washed and quarantine is respected.
‘Life here is so surreal’
Taiwan’s initial response is that everyday life on the island is now very different from many places around the world where leaders were not quick to act.
Sil Chen moved to New York from his native Taiwan 16 years ago to set up a psychiatric practice.
He thinks he caught the virus in mid-March from a client who coughed during the session. “At the time, people weren’t taking this very seriously,” Chen said.
At the time, the U.S. It was also difficult to get tested in so she stayed in her apartment for five weeks to avoid spreading the virus. An antibody test confirmed her infection two months later.
“I think it was fairly mild compared to the others I knew, but I coughed for two months … and I didn’t get my smell back for a month.”
Chen returned to Taipei in mid-July to visit a grandmother who has lung cancer. After 14 days of quarantine, she took her 99-year-old grandmother out. “We had dinner at a rest restaurant rent,” he said, “doing group yoga with people and I was like, wow, this is so surreal, it wouldn’t be possible for me to bring my grandmother anywhere else in public. Almost in the world.”
From the science of closing to the science of reopening
Dr. Wang and colleagues at Stanford have written about the success of the Taiwanese model To slow down the virus, but the island will want to take a step forward.
“Taiwan has been really great at closing science … but what is the new science of reopening that could be a good model for the world?” Wang said.
Taiwan introduces a short quarantine period for business visitors in June which countries consider it a low or moderate risk. This requires visitors to undergo a pre-boarding test to prove negative within 72 hours of flying, followed by a test on the fifth day of quarantine, followed by isolation and self-monitoring for the next two weeks.
“They’re already doing what I suggest for business travelers, special visas, so what’s the logic for not doing it to everyone?” He asked.
Wang said the Taiwanese government is currently considering an international travel study with Stanford for short-term quarantine testing with more frequent testing. He said the travel corridor is an important way to revive the world economy and the study of travelers coming to Taiwan check the efficiency and practicality of short exposure.
As Wang put it, “At some point we still need to reopen the world and even though the vaccine is not 100% safe.”
An earlier version of the story misrepresented the director of Stanford University’s Center for Policy, Outcome and Prevention. That is Dr. Jason Wang.
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