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"Taiwan is an example of how a society can respond quickly to a crisis and protect the interests of its citizens.” -> Taiwan sets gold standard on epidemic response to keep infection rates low telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/03/0…

As nearby Japan and South Korea reel with thousands of infections, experts say Taiwan, an island of 23 million, has kept the virus at bay through early intervention, a slick command structure, well-rehearsed epidemic strategy

and transparent communication that other countries including the UK could learn from.

By late December, before the coronavirus was on the world’s radar, Taiwan’s government was already sensing danger from rumours of a new respiratory disease emerging from Wuhan,

and officials began boarding flights to check the health of passengers from the Chinese city.

Taipei began to block flights from China and quarantine people from infected zones before other Asian capitals chose to do so,

and Taiwan’s Centres for Disease Control issue daily updates and regular warnings about the locations infected Covid-19 patients visited before their diagnosis.

Public buildings including schools, malls and office blocks require anyone entering to disinfect their hands,

and the government quickly averted panic over a face mask shortage with rationing an official stockpile of 44 million masks that ensured a steady flow to the public.

Audrey Tang, the digital minister, topped the strategy with an online tracing system that allows people to search

for pharmacies that have remaining stock, to avoid queuing in vain.

Taiwan’s alertness and expertise were borne out of the trauma of the Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) that ravaged the island in 2003, and out of a deep mistrust of China

nd the World Health Organisation who, senior officials claim, delayed vital assistance to counter the disease....

“After Sars, they were already preparing for the next [epidemic],” Jason Wang, an associate professor of pediatrics at Stanford Medicine in California, told the Telegraph. “You want governments to do stuff before you know it’s happening.”

“The establishment of the national health command centre was really critical. It’s like a little compound where all the information comes from local and central government and it all gets integrated. You get the data, process it and then you can tell people what’s going on.”

n a paper published by the Journal of the American Medical Association this week, Professor Wang and co-author Robert Brook, a professor of medicine, praised Taiwan’s response, highlighting its use of big data, new technology and pro-active testing of patients with

severe respiratory difficulties.

Taiwan combined tight border control from the air and sea with swift identification and quarantine of suspicious cases. National health and immigration information was integrated to track individuals at high risk because of recent travel to

affected areas and their home quarantine was monitored through their phones.

Meanwhile, a hotline was set up in each major city for citizens to report suspicious symptoms.

“Through early recognition of the crisis, daily briefings to the public, and simple health messaging,

the government was able to reassure the public by delivering timely, accurate, and transparent information regarding the evolving epidemic,” they concluded.

“Taiwan is an example of how a society can respond quickly to a crisis and protect the interests of its citizens.”