Focus Taiwan
Date: 04/03/2020
By: Chang Ming-hsuan and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, April 3 (CNA) An article posted on a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website has highlighted the early steps Taiwan took to contain the spread of the new coronavirus disease in the country, especially its coordination and use of information.

"Of note, the centralized, real-time database of the country's national health insurance (NHI) helped support disease surveillance and case detection," said the essay, titled "Policy Decisions and Use of Information Technology to Fight 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease, Taiwan."

The article, which appears on the U.S. CDC's "Emerging Infectious Diseases" journal and will be published in July, argued that the comprehensive response and innovative use of the NHI database by Taiwan's CDC effectively delayed and contained community transmission in Taiwan.

That was accomplished even as the number of confirmed cases surged in neighboring countries in Asia starting in mid-February, said the article written by a research team that included members of Taiwan's CDC.    [FULL  STORY]