West is still confused. "Why is China still trying to eliminate all Covid outbreaks? @BBCWorld is asking" Short answer: the economy. They know very well what means SARS. We dont! #1
Controlling the course of SARS 2003 outbreak in China and elsewhere was the result of several *rapid* public interventions. Thats how China and other countries in Asia managed to control and eliminate SARS. Even so 2003 SARS outbreak was very expensive #2
And it is not only China. Taiwan, Singapore, S. Korea, Vietnam, different countries, with different rules and healthcare systems, all aiming to control and eliminate COVID19. #3
To be social responsible, means many things, from face masks usage, social distance protective measures to vaccines. We have lost the social responsibility part. Our "vaccine only" strategy has failed. Time to learn #4
"At the outbreak of World War 1 in August 1914, enthusiastic patriots on both sides were assured it would be over by Christmas. At the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic in Jan 2020, there was a general assumption that life would be back to normal by Easter." Never happened #1
Our wish - "Each time there is a new wave of the pandemic, there is a strong desire to believe that if we can just get past this crisis, things will be better, the pandemic will come to an end and we can return to a normal life” #2
Reality check "Empirical evidence about the course of the pandemic and evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 virus show that this wish is not likely to become a reality.” #3
Europe is under stress: lots of COVID19 infections and social disruptions. Our European health agencies have lost contact with reality, are confused and hope for best. Meanwhile in Taiwan, their health agency (CECC) reported 82 domestic infections! How do they do it? #1
The CECC reported 82 domestic C19 cases. Most of the 82 cases were linked to two clusters: 14 was traced to a worker at Kaohsiung Harbor, and 64 to a factory in Taoyuan’s Free Trade Zone. About 10,000 people work regularly at Kaohsiung Harbor. #2
10.000 people make contact tracing relatively difficult. Community testing stations have been set up near the site to encourage people who might have had contact with an infected person or experience symptoms typical of COVID-19 to get tested. #3
Taiwan has recorded very few #COVID19 deaths and infections since the pandemic started. Same time, many European countries, like UK are reporting high number of infections, with serious consequences to the social life and healthcare system. Lets see what makes Taiwan different #1
The island sits just 130 km off the coast of mainland China and shuttles thousands of passengers to and from the China daily. Even so, they managed to keep infections low and avoid major, repeatable lockdowns. Many factors have contributed to this winning strategy #2
Protect their own economy. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, is by far the world’s largest chip manufacturer. It’s also the sixth most valuable company in the world with a market over $600 billion, and supplies chips to Apple, Intel, and Nvidia. #3