As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the globe and subject several countries’ healthcare systems to unprecedented pressure, Taiwan has emerged as one of the few countries to have produced a successful model of tackling the virus. Taiwan’s case is especially remarkable given it’s circumstances. Despite being a densely-populated island nation of about 24 million located only about 100 miles (160 km) from mainland China, there have only been 429 confirmed cases and six fatalities from the virus as of 28 April. However, Taiwan’s narrative has often been left out of the global discussion on the outbreak due to political reasons; bitter bilateral relations with Beijing have resulted in Taiwan being excluded from the World Health Organisation (WHO), for example.
Nevertheless, there are several lessons to be learned from Taiwan’s approach to the coronavirus outbreak. Quick preparation and early intervention gave authorities a strong head start. The territory utilised its hard-learned lessons from the 2003 SARS outbreak when over 150,000 people were quarantined on the island and 181 others died. The population was better prepared this time around, both at the governmental and societal levels. Experienced officials who are in charge of an affordable and world-class healthcare system undertook a quick and transparent response. As soon as early reports of the virus from China’s Wuhan started emerging in late December, Taiwanese officials started implementing a list of 124 emergency response action items involving border control, stringent checks, travel restrictions and case finding. Travel to and from parts of China, Hong Kong and Macau were banned as soon as the number of cases started increasing there. Cruise ships were prevented from docking and punishments were imposed on individuals flouting home quarantine orders. The public, most of whom have already experienced the SARS pandemic and knew the importance of taking the situation seriously, started routinely wearing face masks and practising social distancing voluntarily.
Predicting a high demand for face masks and other essential medical supplies, authorities ramped up domestic production and started rationing the existing supplies as early as January. Taiwan’s daily mask production capacity rose from 1.8 million to 8 million; this has been referred to as ‘Taiwan’s Mask Miracle’. The result was that Taiwan was able to donate 10 million masks to the United States, Italy, Spain and other countries in need in early April, after stocking ample supply for its own citizens.
Another major factor that contributed to the territory’s COVID-19 battle is the use of data technology to form a robust case-tracing mechanism. Active surveillance and screening systems already existed at all major airports since the SARS outbreak. But in this case officials undertook a very detailed mapping of the transmission of the virus since the beginning of the outbreak, using big data analytics. For Taiwanese citizens, authorities integrated the national health insurance database with the immigration and customs database in order to rate a traveller’s infection risk based on the travel history.
Meanwhile, mobile technologies were used to build datasets of foreign travellers. Apart from this, authorities also implemented a geofencing system which uses mobile phone location tracking to ensure that people who are required to quarantine stay in their homes. Technology has also been utilised to detect and control shortages of critical supplies. The government worked closely with local technology research institutes and the smart automation sectors to increase the production of templates to meet the needs of the domestic market.
Additionally, authorities were quick to back innovative local technology solutions and implement them. For example, a real-time platform developed by a Taiwanese software engineer company that showed where masks are stocked was rapidly upscaled by the government in collaboration with the private sector to develop a better version of the platform using public sector data. The new real-time map now supports the government in educating the public on availability of supplies. Last but not least, the government provides active support for those under quarantine: local community leaders ensure a steady supply of food and other items are available to them while the government also rolled out a welfare programme that provides a daily allowance to quarantined individuals: this system gives more incentive to people to report their symptoms to the relevant authorities, minimising unreported cases.
Taiwan has so far emerged successful in the fight against COVID-19 despite a difficult political situation that limits its international partners and an unfavourable geographic location; this has largely been possible due to experience, rapid response and high vigilance of the entire public health infrastructure. Authorities sprung into action as soon as the first cases of a new pneumonia started being reported in Wuhan in late December 2019 and their hypervigilance led to the avoidance of draconian lockdown measures that China and so many other countries have undertaken. With a solid epidemic prevention mechanism in place, Taiwan is now investing in biomedical research to mass-produce a rapid diagnostic test for COVID-19. The country has even taken a step forward and expressed the willingness to share their technology with other countries to trace and investigate outbreaks.
