@aphale_esha
Mumbai: The Covid-19 pandemic severely tested countries in their complacency in dealing with the novel coronavirus. While some countries managed to come through this trial by fire owing mainly due to their superior healthcare systems, others crumbled owing to their shambolic health infrastructures, aggravated further by official ‘misinformation’ and police bungling.
One exception was Taiwan, where the swift and vigilant response of the government prevented the virus from wreaking havoc.
At the start of the pandemic, while many countries were struggling to cope with the Covid-19 scourge, Taiwan was administering just 0.57 virus tests per 1,000 people in mid-February, as compared to Singapore’s rate of 6.21 tests per 1000 people and the UK’s rate of 8.68.
For a country that never went into lockdown, the Taiwanese government was swift at sealing off its borders. This has led to Taiwan only recording 11 covid-19 cases since the eruption of the pandemic in March 2020.
A study done by the American Medical Association Journal has provided detailed insights into Taiwan’s astonishing performance in reining in the contagion.
From the scope of well-being foundations and medical clinics in Taiwan and the US, the study’s creators analyzed the assessed existence of two kinds of COVID-19 approach in the early months of the pandemic: case-based and populace-based measures.
Case-based measures incorporate the recognition of contaminated individuals through testing, detachment of positive cases, contact following, and 14-day isolating close contacts. Populace-based measures included face cover approaches, individual cleanliness, and social distancing.
The hyper-testing of the population and sealing-off of borders led to the general assumption that even with people showing symptoms, the probability of having Covid-19 was essentially zero.
This assumption caused doctors not to take the pandemic seriously; hospitals were not placed on a ‘high alert’.
Something known as the “prevention-fatigue” started setting in, which made the populace of Taiwan and the Taiwanese government loosen the reins regarding certain pandemic restrictions.
“Tea-houses,” which are adult entertainment venues, were the root cause of the spread of the new variant of covid, B117, that was transmitted by the China Airlines and Novotel employees, then transmitted to New Taipei City and the Lions Clubs, and then transmitted to Yilan.
It finally got to Wanhua’s adult entertainment venues, the so-called “tea houses.” These “tea-houses” are spread across the street, where people freely traverse, which made the spread of the virus convenient and harmful.
The first week of May in 2021 saw Taiwan declare a Level 3 (semi-lockdown) alert, and doctors were convinced that thousands of people would be affected this time around. Since then, there’s been a fluctuation in the cases; from 500-600 cases in the first week, 400 to 500 in the second week, and then 300 to 400.
Now it has trickled 200 to 300 cases per day. Still, with the virus continuously mutating into new variants, the Taiwanese government and doctors are finding it hard to eradicate the virus now wholly.
While Taiwan’s prevention strategy seemed to have worked wonders, the prevention fatigue and the lack of vaccines caused the country to face the negative side of the virus. Taiwan had already purchased COVAX, but the delivery of the vaccination was inadequate and delayed.
Taiwan got 1.25 million (AstraZeneca) as a donation from Japan and 0.75 million doses of Moderna from the US. If things go following the international vaccine and domestic efforts, Taiwan hopes that in July, there will be another six million vaccines available and in August, a further six million.
By August end, Taiwan hopes to have immunized at least 15 million people with at least one dose and at that point, the epidemic might be contained much better. With some hope, and consistent effort by the government, doctors, and the population alike, Taiwan returns to a new everyday life.
(Author Esha Aphale is a student of international studies.)
