It wasn’t too long ago that Taiwan was lauded, together with Vietnam and Singapore, for keeping Covid-19 infections down.
And yet, as proven true of the nature of the coronavirus, nothing in the Covid-19 pandemic is a truly a guarantee.
On 24 Jan 2021, the Taiwan government announced that they’ll have to quarantine more than 5,000 people due to a rare cluster of Covid-19.
Everything About the New Wave of COVID-19 Infections in Taiwan So Far
The entire situation started on 12 Jan 2021 with a small number of domestic transmissions (in Singapore’s context, local cases), connected to a hospital.
While the number of cases in the cluster is small (15 cases) compared to what the rest of the world is going through, it has, undoubtedly, unnerved the Taiwanese authorities.
A few large-scale events for the upcoming Chinese New Year were cancelled.
About 5,000 Cases To Be Quarantined
On 24 Jan 2021, Taiwan’s Health Minister Chen Shih-chung told reporters that they’ll increase the number of people who has to be quarantined after possibly coming into contact with infected patients.
Currently, the number of people who are in quarantine is 1,300. It will be increased to about 5,000 people.
According to the minister, the government has been testing the people in quarantine and they’ve found newly-confirmed cases among them.
Situation Still Under Control
Now, if you’re wondering whether Taiwan will become the next US, they won’t.
Despite the spate of new infections, there are only 95 active Covid-19 cases being treated in hospitals.
Taiwan also has a well-proven system for contact tracing, as well as an electronic system to monitor people who are in quarantine.
So, chances are, if anyone in Taiwan who is under quarantine tries to break the rules and buy bubble tea like this lady, they’ll be in a world of hurt (figuratively).
After all, we’re talking about the country which has no qualms releasing details of obstinate people in order to cow them into submission.
An Important Lesson
Is Taiwan’s reaction more of an over-reaction? Maybe.
But as it has been shown time and again, overreacting to Covid-19 is usually the best way forward.
While Singapore has recorded no community case for the past 1 week, it doesn’t mean that people in Singapore should let down their guards, especially with the existence of Covid-19 variants like the B117.
With Chinese New Year coming up, the Singapore government is implementing additional rules for the festivities.
From 26 Jan, there will be a cap of 8 distinct visitors per household per day, the ministry said. Simply put, this means you can’t have one group of 8 relatives over in the morning and another group of 8 in the evening.
Individuals should also limit themselves to visiting at most two other households a day, and visit family members only.
Moreover, face masks must be worn during the tossing of yusheng, and the lohei should be done without any verbalisation of the usual auspicious phrases.
Feature Image: Wirestock Images / Shutterstock.com
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