KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 — It’s been four months since the new Covid-19 infection emerged from the Chinese city of Wuhan.
Today, the virus has infected over 3.2 million people and killed more than 228,000 globally.
In Malaysia, a shutdown was put in place to contain the spread of the disease.
The infection, however, has largely spared Taiwan, despite the island’s relative proximity to the virus’s origin.
To date, Taiwan — with a population of over 23 million — has recorded a total of 429 Covid-19 cases, with six deaths and 311 recoveries.
According to Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Centre (CECC), of the total number of cases, 343 have been classified as imported, while 55 are local infections.
Interestingly, the impressive feat was achieved without shutting down the country or imposing strict restrictions seen elsewhere.
In fact, schools, offices, restaurants and most entertainment facilities remain open in Taiwan, but people have been asked to wear protective masks and rigorously follow Covid-19 precautions by the government.
To better understand Taiwan’s approach in handling the Covid-19 infection, here’s a rundown on how they played out the pandemic differently from the rest of the world.
Early vigilance
In a report published by US-based think tank, Council of Foreign Relations, the organisation attributed Taiwan’s success in containing the virus to early preparedness, health expertise, government competence, and popular alertness.
According to the report, Taiwan alerted the World Health Organisation (WHO) about the virus’s potential for human-to-human transmission on Dec 31, but received no reply.
Two weeks later, the global health agency sent a tweet saying that the new coronavirus didn’t appear to spread via human-to-human transmission.
Preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the novel #coronavirus (2019-nCoV) identified in #Wuhan, #China🇨🇳. pic.twitter.com/Fnl5P877VG
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) January 14, 2020
The think tank also said while WHO appeared to downplay the global threat due to lack of clear evidence, Taiwan missed no chance and adopted vigorous measures for screening, testing, contact tracing and enforcing quarantines.
According to another article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Taiwan officially activated its CECC to allow coordination with various ministries to enact necessary policies and strategies to curb the spread of the virus.
As a result, the policymakers implemented 124 safety protocols in a span of five weeks (from January 20 until February 24).
Swift early-stage actions
According to JAMA’s report, as soon as Chinese officials notified WHO about the several cases of pneumonia on December 31, Taiwanese officials began to board planes and assess passengers on direct flights from Wuhan for fever and pneumonia symptoms.
Less than a week later, the government began monitoring people who had travelled from Wuhan since December 20.
“Suspected cases were screened for 26 viruses, including SARS and MERS,” reads the JAMA report.
“Passengers displaying symptoms were quarantined at home and assessed whether medical attention at a hospital was necessary.”
On January 12, Taiwan sent a team of experts on a “fact-finding” mission to China despite poor bilateral relations between both countries.
A Taiwanese government official told ABC News that shortly after the team returned, the country rolled out a mechanism to test, identify those infected, trace their contacts and isolate everyone involved to prevent the virus from spreading to the community.
All these precautionary measures were taken before the country confirmed its first Covid-19 case on January 21.
A few days later, Taiwan health authorities announced an export ban on face masks and lowered the price of each piece to NT$6 (RM0.87) to ensure they were affordable.
Business Insider also reported that by February, Taipei had distributed nearly 6.5 million masks to primary and secondary schools, as well as after-school institutions along with 84,000 litres of hand sanitiser and 25,000 forehead thermometers.
Taking advantage of big data and technology
Based on JAMA’s report, Taiwan launched an Entry Quarantine System on February 14 to allow travellers to complete a health declaration form by scanning a QR code that would lead to an online form, either prior to departure from or upon arrival at a Taiwan airport.
“A mobile health declaration pass was then sent via SMS to phones using a local telecom operator, which allowed for faster immigration clearance for those with minimal risk,” reads the report.
On February 18, the government also announced that all hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies in Taiwan would have access to patients’ travel histories to further assist the healthcare frontliners.
Audrey Tang, Taiwan’s digital minister, who is the youngest minister without portfolio to hold office, also utilised artificial intelligence to harness data and created real-time digital updates of risky areas, and a live map of local supplies of face masks.
As of yesterday, the country reported no new Covid-19 cases for the fourth consecutive day and seventh time this month.
With Labour Day long-weekend starting from tomorrow, Taiwanese authorities didn’t announce any local travel restrictions, but urged everyone to continue observing proper personal hygiene practices and social distancing measures.
“People can be more relaxed, but they shouldn’t let their guards down,” CECC advisor Chang Shan-chwen told local news site, Focus Taiwan.
