■ COVID‐19 Report
Taiwan ’ s Response to COVID‐19 : Lessons Learned and How the Island Nation Took on a Global Pandemic
With 23.7 million people , Taiwan had only 490 COVID‐19 cases and seven deaths .
By Diane C . Walsh Contributing Editor
The rapid and strict unilateral actions Taiwan took to protect its population from the deadly COVID‐19 virus were discussed at a special virtual program hosted by the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey ( CIANJ ), the New Jersey Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce and the Taiwanese Consulate .
CIANJ and the Taiwanese chamber are drafting an agreement outlining the partnership they are forging to help their respective business members grow and succeed . Jimmy Shee , president of the Taiwanese chamber , said his members include insurance firms , hotels , restaurants , distributors , management consulting firms , as well as others focusing on imports and exports .
As a sign of goodwill , the chamber donated thousands of masks to New Jersey hospitals and nursing homes , including Bergen New Bridge Medical Center , a CIANJ member . CIANJ President Anthony Russo thanked Mr . Shee for donating another 5,000 surgical masks to the association for distribution among its corporate members .
Masks , isolation and quarantine are the most powerful tools against COVID‐19 , said Dr .
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Chunhuei Chi , director of the Center for Global Health at the College of Public Health and Human Sciences at Oregon State University . He was the key speaker at the program on the Taiwanese strategy . Taiwan was the first nation to provide universal access to surgical masks , giving no excuse not to wear them , the professor noted .
Dr . Chi said Taiwan ’ s response was rooted in its devastating experience with the SARS ( Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ) outbreak in 2003 . Initially in April of that year , Taiwan had 29 cases and no deaths . But by June the number of cases climbed to 680 and the death toll reached 81 , according to information provided by the U . S . National Library of Medicine . “ We decided to never again face a new pandemic unprepared ,” Dr . Chi said .
He developed a timeline of Taiwan ’ s action , noting that late in December 2019 , it was conducting inspections of airline passengers arriving in Taiwan from Wuhan , the epicenter of the virus .
The professor attributed Taiwan ’ s success to several factors : development of a “ legal framework ” to implement mandatory quarantining ; use of precision contact tracing ; advanced planning , which included extensive training of healthcare professionals ; and the ability to use advanced information technology .
Taiwan was the first nation to provide universal access to surgical masks , giving no excuse not to wear them .
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Masks , isolation and quarantine are the most powerful tools against COVID‐19 , said Dr . Chunhuei Chi , director of the Center for Global Health at the College of Public Health and Human Sciences at Oregon State University .
There was never a shutdown of the country ’ s economy . Instead , the professor said Taiwan focused on protecting lives and the approach protected the economy . For example , Dr . Chi said restaurants continued to serve patrons indoors ; but strict protocols were enacted . Extra measures were taken to disinfect the premises . Capacity was reduced to half , transparent plastic shields were installed , the temperature of every guest was taken , disinfectant was readily available to use on hands and every restaurant registered the customers ’ names and times that they dined for contact tracing , if necessary .
Schools were not closed , either . As an alternative , partitions were installed as safety measures . Every county was also responsible for preparing huge care packages of food and provisions for people who were required to quarantine for 14 days . These steps and many others resulted in the British media praising Taiwan as the “ gold standard ” in COVID‐19 response .