Vice President Chen Chien-jen sat down for an exclusive interview with U.K.-based The Daily Telegraph last week in Taipei City, in which he expounded on the Taiwan Model for combating coronavirus and the impact of the country’s exclusion from the activities, mechanisms and meetings of the World Health Organization.
Taiwan’s experience with the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak informed its rapid response to the current epidemic, Chen said. Measures including enhanced monitoring for emerging infectious diseases, strict border controls and 14-day mandatory quarantines have been efficiently implemented thanks to establishment of the Central Epidemic Command Center, which has centralized the government’s response and helped limit domestic spread of COVID-19, he added.
According to Chen, ramping up surgical mask production and implementing a rationing system are also paying dividends, with capacity expected to reach 15 million masks per day this week. Taiwan is also well equipped to treat confirmed cases, with 20,000 negative pressure isolation rooms and 14,000 ventilators available, he said.
The vice president said the development of vaccines, rapid testing kits and pharmaceuticals is key in the global fight against coronavirus. Institutions like Taipei City-based Academia Sinica and Miaoli County-headquartered National Health Research Institutes in northern Taiwan are working with counterparts including the U.S. National Institutes of Health on relevant R&D and production of drugs such as hydroxychloroquine and remdesivir, Chen added.
Transparent sharing of information also plays a vital role in combating coronavirus, Chen said, noting that early warnings from health care workers in Wuhan, the Chinese city where COVID-19 was first reported late last year, were not heeded.
Chen said the WHO did not act with the same speed as in past epidemics, with the global body choosing not to announce a Public Health Emergency of International Concern until the end of January, nearly a month after Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control sent an email regarding the outbreak to the WHO on Dec. 31, 2019.
The text warned of at least seven atypical pneumonia cases of unknown cause in Wuhan requiring isolation treatment.
Regarding suggestions for other countries and territories working to manage the pandemic, renowned epidemiologist Chen said social distancing and designated testing of close contacts of confirmed cases and high risk groups are more effective than mass testing.
The vice president also expressed optimism now that countries have enacted stricter measures, with signs that infection curves are being flattened in many places. “This is a good sign for COVID-19 containment,” he said. (YCH-E)