Country learned ‘harsh lesson’ from Sars and has kept infections under 50, despite being blocked by Beijing from being part of the WHO

The Guardian
Date: 12 Mar 2020
By: Michelle Yun in Taipei

 Taiwan has only had one death from coronavirus, having taken quick and aggressive action to contain the outbreak. Photograph: Ministry Of National Defense/EPA

Shawn Bryant knew he would be under quarantine for two weeks when he arrived in Taiwan from Daejeon, South Korea. The local police called every day and Bryant had told them he would be moving to a new Airbnb a few days into his stay. They said it was fine as long as he took a taxi.

So Bryant was alarmed when, in the taxi, he received a text warning that he had gone too far from his accommodation and would be fined if he didn’t return immediately. He quickly called his police contact, who assured Bryant he can just ignore the automated message.

“I’m glad they’re taking it very seriously and not letting people off the hook easily,” said Bryant, who is visiting Taiwan on his way back to Canada, his home country.

Using phone tracking to enforce mandatory quarantine is one example of how Taiwan has managed to contain the spread of coronavirus, with just 48 confirmed cases of infection to date, including one death. That’s despite the island located just 130km (80 miles) from mainland China, the centre of the virus outbreak which has reported more than 80,000 cases and 3,000 deaths.    [FULL  STORY]