National Taiwan University’s College of Public Health yesterday urged the government to promote a policy that would allow people to take classes or work from home, or allocate separate work and school hours to reduce the possibility of COVID-19 cluster infections.
As the summer is near, it is not a good idea for people to wear masks the whole day, college dean Chan Chang-chuan (詹長權) said.
If the government does not want to lock down the entire country as Beijing has done to in Wuhan, which would maximize social distance, it would be better to divide people into groups to work and attend classes at different hours or from home, Chan said, adding that people should also follow the government’s instructions to contain the disease’s spread.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
This is the only way the government could avoid shutting down the entire country, he said.
Scientists in the US have found that the severity and contagiousness of COVID-19 is close to that of the 1968 influenza outbreak, Chan said.
If a global disease-prevention policy is not put in place, the situation could turn into a rerun of the Spanish pandemic of 1918, he said.
“The key to prevention is to buy time, which would reduce the duration of the epidemic and its peak, alleviate the workload of medical professionals, and allow scientists to develop vaccines and medicines to fight the virus,” he said.
College vice dean Tony Chen (陳秀熙) said that people should embrace social distancing measures to slow COVID-19’s spread.
Taiwan can help minimize the threat by applying social distancing as used in other countries, Chen said.
One such approach is to keep a distance of at least 1m between people, as is practiced in Finland, he said.
“I had a chance to be a visiting professor in Finland and it was very interesting,” Chen said. “If there was a free seat next to someone on the bus, Finns would rather go sit somewhere else further away.”
Social distancing could help countries prevent the spread of the coronavirus, he said.
It is not advisable to hold large-scale activities at this time, but if an event must be held, there are ways to decrease the risk, Chen said.
In related news, the Taiwan Railways Administration yesterday announced that its policy of curbing cluster-infection risks would be implemented at 17 other stations in addition to Taipei Railway Station: Keelung, Nangang, Songshan, Banciao, Taoyuan, Jhungli, Fongyuan, Taichung, Chiayi, Tainan, Sintsoying, Kaohsiung, Fongshan, Pingtung, Yilan, Hualien and Taitung.
The policy authorizes station personnel to cancel large events at stations and ban large groups.
Additional reporting by Hsiao Yu-hsin
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