Taiwan has been a shining light during the dark days of the Covid-19 pandemic.
While the rest of the world has been scrambling to contain its respective outbreaks, Taiwan has been so adept at keeping the coronavirus under control that it went 250 days without a locally transmitted infection.
In fact, Taiwan only has a total of 770 Covid-19 cases, despite having a population of nearly 24 million.
This successful containment can largely be attributed to early and effective prevention methods and widespread mask wearing.
But, as the coronavirus has shown time and time again, even the best of us can fall victim to it.
Everything About Taiwan’s First Locally Transmitted COVID-19 Case After 250 Days
On Tuesday (22 Dec), Taiwan reported its first locally transmitted case of Covid-19 since 12 April, back when people were still fighting over toilet paper.
According to Health Minister Chen Shih-chung, the locally transmitted case is a woman in her 30s who had close contact with a New Zealand pilot.
The pilot was confirmed to be infected on Sunday (20 Dec), having flown flights to the United States.
The pilot may be in trouble with the authorities in Taiwan as he had not correctly reported all his contacts and the list of places he had been.
The Taiwan government has since published a list of places he visited in and around Taipei. Those who may have been to these places were told to monitor their health.
In the meantime, it’s testing 167 people who have had direct contact with the new locally transmitted case.
While Taiwan’s imported infections rose to 24 and 23 on 30 Nov and 6 Dec, the country has managed to keep them under 8 since then.
In response to the new strain spreading in the UK, Taiwan has also halved the number of flights to Britain to just one a week.
Travellers from the UK will also have to quarantine for 14 days in centralised quarantine facilities.
Early Response
So, how exactly did Taiwan manage to contain the coronavirus so effectively?
One of the most important steps the authorities took was to introduce precautionary measures early on.
For one, Taiwanese officials have been checking flight passengers from Wuhan, China, for fever and pneumonia symptoms as early as 31 December 2019.
Wuhan is where the coronavirus first originated, of course.
And by 20 Jan, the government had activated the Central Epidemic Command Center, in a bid to coordinate a response between different sectors and branches.
It also made sure to convey the importance of wearing masks, and rationed supplies to curb panic-buying.
By 23 January, the government had suspended flights from Wuhan, and restricted Chinese nationals – who live in Wuhan – from entering.
All arrivals in the country were also required to undergo a stringent 14-day quarantine period.
They also have excellent contact tracing capabilities and harsh penalties for those who breach these safety measures.
If there’s one thing to learn from this it’s that even when it seems you’ve won the battle with Covid-19, you haven’t.
This is something we’re just going to have to live with for some time, until it’s completely eradicated.
Featured Image: Wirestock Images / Shutterstock.com
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