Firm, fair, rational quarantine
I arrived in Taiwan on March 11. On my seventh day in the country, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) contacted me and told me not to leave my accommodation. The authorities had changed their policy: All European arrivals from March 5 had to go into quarantine until they had been in the country for a period of 14 days.
The following morning, a woman from the CECC visited me at the apartment. She told me they were tracking my mobile phone to make sure I complied with the quarantine and gave me a thermometer. I had clear instructions to fill in a health sheet each day and contact them if I developed symptoms.
To protect my girlfriend, who I am living with, the woman gave me 14 masks — two for each day. I was rung each morning of the quarantine by both the CECC and the local police. At no point did I have any symptoms.
Some people would have judged this as being “over the top” or “draconian” a couple of weeks ago. However, take a look at the numbers: Cases in Taiwan increased by 152 during my quarantine period, with the vast majority developing symptoms while in isolation.
The UK, on the other hand, had nearly 7,000 new cases, and that is not including many who are undiagnosed.
As for my quarantine being “draconian,” well, this weekend my girlfriend and I went on a trip to Taroko National Park, and next weekend we are going to Taipei.
For now, the Taiwanese authorities have escalated their immigration and quarantine policy to stay a step ahead of the virus, and they continue to remain proactive, not reactive. History will judge them to have acted with appropriate force. Other countries should take note.
Should the general public wear face masks? The WHO says no, but perhaps it is time for a rethink.
The official line from the WHO is that face masks are vital for medical staff and people who are showing symptoms should also wear one.
However, in Taiwan, masks are ubiquitous — it would be rude to go out in public and not wear one. On my flight out here, for example, a woman asked me not to sit on her row because I did not have a mask.
While people in the UK were hoarding toilet rolls, Taiwanese were lining up for masks. Why?
After wearing a mask for two weeks, I now perceive the benefits. First, when I wear a mask, I rarely touch my face. And this is important in the age of corona. A 2015 study in Australia suggested we habitually touch our faces 23 times an hour. Reducing this number would undoubtedly decrease the infection rate.
Second, putting on the mask before I leave the house has become part of a ritual — as though I am preparing for battle. I take this attitude with me into public spaces and have a heightened awareness of hygiene. “What have I touched? When did I last wash my hands?” If you multiply this across a population, it will make a big difference.
My stepfather is a general practitioner in the UK and his practice has had to order protective equipment from Amazon. If the people in charge have underestimated the need for doctors to wear masks, then no doubt they have not appreciated their value in the public arena as well.
From being in Taiwan, it is clear the benefit of masks go beyond whether or not a virus can pass through a filtration membrane and into your lungs; they change behavior and instil a sense of collective responsibility.
Now, of course, the counter for many public health bodies is that there are not enough personal protective equipment for medical staff, so the public should not wear them. And I agree that it would have been irresponsible for many governments to have announced a mask-wearing policy at the beginning of last month.
However, this is a matter of preparedness. Any cost of stockpiling masks, or at least having the ability to increase production like Taiwan has done, would have been negligible compared with an economic downturn.
Respiratory viruses have always been a top public health threat, so it is not unreasonable to hope that my government in the UK would have been better prepared.
There will be a time when the countries under lockdown will have to ease their social distancing rules before a vaccine is available, and societies will have to find ways of adapting to a new, coronavirus reality.
I hope when that time comes, those in charge look at Taiwan and see a need to develop the capability to impose strict quarantine rules and consider a policy of face masks to be worn in public spaces. Taiwan is increasing production of masks and ready to export if they need a hand.
Nicholas Toomey
Taichung
Great opportunity for CPBL
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) has been presented with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It should be broadcasting its games to the world, perhaps via YouTube, when they began on Saturday and get permission to fly in some top US, Japanese and other players to generate global interest.
With the games in empty stadiums, the league will need an alternative source of income and the likes of YouTube have built-in revenue-generating services that could be flooded by a planet’s worth of baseball-starved fans.
The CPBL should approach the government with a request for it to talk with other states about getting players tested and flown in for a few months.
Jarrod McCracken (pseudonym)
Taipei
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