Times Of Swaziland: TAIWAN CAN ELIMINATE COVID-19 – EMBASSY

TAIWAN CAN ELIMINATE COVID-19 – EMBASSY
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BY MFANUKHONA NKAMBULE on 19/04/2020 06:16:00


mfanukhona@times.co.uk
MBABANE – Taiwan has the capacity to help the World Health Organisation (WHO)
better manage Covid-19 (coronavirus).
Responding to questions by the Times SUNDAY, the Embassy of the Republic of
China (Taiwan) to Eswatini said the island, which is not a member of the UN,
warned that politics should not undermine collective efforts to strengthen the
global’s health network.
If Taiwan were to be granted full involvement in the World Health Organisation,
the embassy stated that its country would share its successful experience with
the world more effectively.
It would also actively contribute to prevention and containment efforts, putting
an end to the pandemic as quickly as possible. The diplomatic mission mentioned
that Taipei closely cooperated with allies and like-minded partners worldwide in
combating the coronavirus.
It said the country readily shared its expertise and resources, as well as
strived to leave no one behind. “It also wholeheartedly believes Taiwan can
help the World Health Organisation better manage the Covid-19 pandemic while
realising health for all,” the Embassy of Taiwan in Mbabane said.
Dr Simon Zwane, the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Health, said he still
believed Taiwan had a depth of experience and wide ranging expertise in the
field of public health.
“The global health community is missing a lot from the exclusion of Taiwan,”
Dr Zwane said.
It must be said that Dr Zwane was recently called to order when he motivated for
the recognition of Taiwan in United Nations (UN) forums such as WHO. He was
called to order by an official from Mainland China. The Island has dispatched
four doctors to assist in the containment of the virus in Eswatini, its only
African ally.
It also donated E10 million and later 20 653 medical supplies.
Taiwan and the WHO have a contentious relationship. Tensions once again simmered
to the surface after WHO Director General Tedro Adhanom Ghebreyesus accused
Taiwan’s foreign ministry of targeting him in a “campaign of racism.”
Beijing took advantage of this diplomatic row, and accused Taiwan of
‘venomous’ attacks on WHO while using the coronavirus pandemic to ‘seek
independence’. Beijing considers self-governed Taiwan to be part of Chinese
territory and excludes Taipei from membership in international organisations
like the WHO.
However, Taiwan’s handling of the pandemic has been cited as a success story.
Other WHO members may now be more inclined to demand that the international
public health body grant Taipei observer status.
Formosa, meaning the beautiful island, is another name for Taiwan. It argued
that it could provide valuable input on best practices and public health
strategies for other countries dealing with their own COVID-19 epidemics.
According to CNN, country after country, like a line of dominoes, has been shut
down by the novel coronavirus. Despite signs the threat was making its way
across the globe, there was a clear pattern of response in many parts of the
world -- denial, fumbling and, eventually, lockdown.
Health analysts observed that as much of the world mulled gradually lifting
lockdowns, there are still lessons to be learned from these four places that got
it right.
Lessons from Taiwan (CNN)
Sitting just 180 kilometres (110 miles) off the coast of mainland China,
Taiwan’s outbreak could have been disastrous. At the end of January, the
island was estimated to have had the second-highest number of cases in the
world, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU). 
But Taiwan, with a population of around 24 million people, has recorded just
over 390 cases and six deaths. On Wednesday, it reported no new cases at all.
It’s managed to do that without implementing severe restrictions, like
lockdowns, or school and nursery closures. In terms of its death toll, at least,
Taiwan doesn’t even have much of a curve to flatten, more of a line with a
couple of rigid steps.
Lesson 1: Be prepared
Taiwan’s preparedness came largely from some hard-learned lessons from the
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003, which killed 181
people on the island.
As a result, the island established a specialised Central Epidemic Command
Centre, which could be activated to coordinate a response in the event of an
outbreak. In a sign of how Taiwan wanted to get ahead of the coronavirus, the
centre was activated on January 20, a day before the island even confirmed its
first infection.
Because its authority was already established, the centre was able to implement
stringent measures without being slowed down by lengthy political processes. It
put more than 120 action items into place within three weeks, according to a
list published by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). That
list alone could serve as a manual on exactly what to do during an outbreak.
Lesson 2: Be quick
Taiwan’s action came well before its first Covid-19 infection was confirmed on
January 21. Three weeks before, within days of China’s first reported case to
the WHO, Taiwanese officials began boarding and inspecting passengers for fever
and pneumonia symptoms on flights from Wuhan, the original epicentre of the
virus in China. The island issued a travel alert for Wuhan on January 20, and
two days later, still with just a single case, officials began updating the
public in daily briefings.
A week after its first case, Taiwan began electronic monitoring of quarantined
individuals via government-issued cellphones, and announced travel and entry
restrictions, mostly targeting China’s Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the
capital.
Just about every day after until the end of February, the government implemented
new measures to keep the virus at bay.
Taiwan had only 329 cases when it imposed strict social distancing measures on
April 1. In comparison, there were already 335 deaths and more than 3 000 cases
on March 20, when Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that pubs and
restaurants were to close, and that most children would be pulled from schools
and nurseries. And as the UK is not testing widely,  the true number of
infections is believed to be much higher than official figures show.
Lesson 3: Test, trace and quarantine
Authorities carried out widespread testing and tracing of contacts of infected
people, putting them all under quarantine. It proactively tested anyone who got
off cruise ships and even retested people diagnosed with influenza or pneumonia,
to make sure they hadn’t been misdiagnosed and were infected with the
coronavirus.
Lesson 4: Use data and tech
A coordinated government response with full collaboration of its citizenry (was)
combined with the use of big data and technology,” associate professor of
pediatrics at Stanford Medicine, Jason Wang, told CNN. Wang has also studied
public health policy and co-authored the JAMA report on Taiwan’s response.
Taiwan merged national health insurance data with customs and immigration
databases to create real-time alerts to help identify vulnerable populations.
“Having a good health data system helps with monitoring the spread of the
disease and allows for its early detection.
When someone sees a physician for respiratory symptoms, the national health
insurance database will have a record of it. It is easier to track clusters of
outbreaks,” Wang said.
Taiwan used mandatory online reporting and check-ins for 14 days after travel
restrictions. It also employed ‘digital fencing’ for close to 55 000 people
in home quarantine, where alarms would sound if a quarantined person wandered
too far from home.
The technical surveillance methods used in Taiwan and by other governments have
raised privacy concerns from civil society groups.
Meanwhile, other countries that did well are Germany, Iceland and South Korea.