Focus Taiwan
Date: 04/17/2020
By: Chang Ming-hsuan, Chen Wei-ting and Ko Lin

Taipei, April 17 (CNA) When a warning of a mysterious virus sent by a whistleblowing Chinese doctor began filtering out of China at the end of 2019, it marked the starting point of the public phase of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Doctors with Taiwan's Center of Diseases Control (CDC) were among those paying close attention and were convinced enough by what they saw to initiate precautions against the virus.

In the wee hours of Dec. 31, 2019, CDC deputy chief Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞) could not sleep and was scrolling his phone when an online post shared in a CDC chat group caught his attention.

Quoting information from Chinese websites, the post that appeared on PTT, one of Taiwan's largest internet bulletin board systems (BBS), warned about the potential danger of a SARS-like disease that was spreading in the Chinese city of Wuhan.    [FULL  STORY]