“Taiwan hit 200 days without any domestically transmitted cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, highlighting the island’s continued success at keeping the virus under control even as cases surge in other parts of the world,” ABC News reported on October 29, 2020.
“Since the pandemic began, Taiwan has recorded 553 cases of COVID-19, and just seven deaths.”
So how did they do it?
Its success is partly attributable to acting “very early on.” Taiwanese officials began checking arriving passengers on December 31, and on January 20 set up a command center to coordinate the government response.
Of course, it probably helps being an island, which facilitates exercising strict control over who comes into their country. But there’s much more to Taiwan’s story than just border control.
“The government also communicated effectively about the importance of wearing masks, while trying to prevent panic buying and price-gouging by rationing them. The island was also quick to tighten its borders, suspending flights from Wuhan on Jan. 23, and banning the entry of Chinese nationals who reside in Wuhan. Taiwan has a strict 14-day quarantine for all arrivals, whether Taiwanese or foreign.
“Professionals with technical expertise led the response and messaging, such as Taiwan’s former Vice President Chen Chien-jen, who is a trained-epidemiologist.”
Read story here, then compare and contrast with America’s response and results.
To a large extent it is about geography. It is 13,836 square miles with a lot of mountains and a population concentrated on the low plains in the west.
It was an autocratic undemocratic state until 1987. This makes it easy for the government to do somethings far more easily than in the US. There is also China as an neighbor/adversary or same nation. This means the population is under greater control than in the US, and because of the military threat and previous diseases coming out of China the 23 million of Taiwan are motivated.
There is an element of luck as well. When you act early and do a quarantine of everyone entering the country then a nation can be successful when doing tracing. Tracing can be quickly overwhelmed and ineffective once the number of cases at one time rise above a few hundred. At some point it just becomes impossible to contact all the possible contacts, and insist those contacts are tested, and the proper follow ups. It also helps when visitors from China largely congregate in the same areas, unlike in the US where 13.000 a day were coming in and dispersing over a much much larger area and many more cities than Taipai and surrounding communities. South Korea has done very well with similar policies. A somewhat similar geography, and some similar history. While North Korea is not doing as well though the official propaganda is there are no cases. If you can keep a disease out then it will not affect your population. As long as African Hook Work stays in eastern Africa it is no threat to the US but if it should make it to the US or part of the US the epidemic will not end until there is no one able to walk.