• Fast response, transparency and efficacy have been credited for island’s success in controlling the disease locally so far, experts say
• Taiwan will be tested in the weeks to come as Taiwanese return home from Europe and North America, where case numbers are rising

South China Morning Post
Date: 29 Mar, 2020
By: Lawrence Chung

Taiwan’s initial success at controlling the spread of deadly coronavirus infections on the island has won it global recognition.

But with scores of new infections and deaths being reported daily in the popular Taiwanese tourist destinations of Europe and the US, it remains to be seen whether the island’s efforts to check the disease will remain as effective as when the virus first spread from the mainland Chinese city of Wuhan, experts say.

With half a million Taiwanese working on the mainland and a million people from the mainland visiting the self-governed island per year, some health experts had predicted that Taiwan would be the hardest hit locality when Covid-19 was first reported in Wuhan, the capital of central China’s Hubei province, which is less than two hours away from Taipei by air.

As of the weekend, Taiwan had reported close to 300 confirmed cases and two deaths, compared with the mainland’s 3,300 deaths and more than 81,000 cases, according to Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Centre (CECC). By comparison, Italy has had more than 10,000 deaths and 92,000 cases, the US 2,500 deaths and 122,000 cases and Spain almost 6,000 deaths and 73,000 cases.    [FULL  STORY]