Taiwan’s pandemic history
Historians will consider May 11, 2021, as the day Taiwan was invaded by a wave of new COVID-19 cases — 16 were reported after many months of seven or fewer new cases per day, with none, one or two reported on most days.
The end result will depend on how we immediately respond. If we halt the growing carelessness we are witnessing and regain the rigorous attitude and willingness to take action as we did in spring last year, there is a good chance we can stop this wave from getting out of control.
However, all levels of government and private citizens would need to work together to make sure that COVID-19 has no place to go, no one to spread to and nowhere to hide while waiting for an opportunity to re-emerge.
If we act like unconcerned individuals, doing our own thing and disobeying the orders of the Central Epidemic Command Center, we might end up sacrificing the health of others to satisfy our own selfish desires.
We must make the necessary changes in our behavior today to avoid outcomes that are being reported daily in India and several Southeast Asian countries. We also want to stay away from the problems that Americans suffered from November last year to March due to a lack of leadership.
To fight the new wave, whose origins and variant type are still being determined, we need to redouble our efforts to wear masks, maintain social distancing and reduce social activities — the basic weapons we used before to get the kind of success that received praise from around the world.
Are you planning a holiday? Go to the countryside and breathe fresh air rather than visit crowded, enclosed spaces with poor air circulation, such as department stores, hypermarkets, movie theaters and KTVs.
I hope that when the story of this particular time is written, our generation will be remembered for leaving our children and grandchildren with a sense of pride and success rather than memories of people’s lives being needlessly affected or even lost.
Success in dealing with a new wave and possibly a new variant requires each and every one of us to cooperate fully with the Central Epidemic Command Center and all levels of government.
We need your help to win this fight.
Chung-Yuan Huang
Professor, Chang Gung University
Taiwan cannot buy more time
It is undeniable that Taiwan did a good job of managing COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic. From banning Chinese flights in the early stage and taking strict quarantine measures for anyone arriving from abroad to extensive and detailed contact tracing. The government did it so well, I will not argue about it.
For the past 15 months at least, life has been normal. Schools were having face-to-face classes at full capacity, concerts were held and night markets were full of people enjoying snacks and bubble tea. Those are pleasures that many people in other countries could only dream about. Taiwan also never enforced a lockdown such as in China or Europe, or a movement-control order such as in Malaysia or large-scale social restrictions in Indonesia.
With the recent local surge in COVID-19 cases and the rising alert level, having no lockdown experience is a big problem.
Lockdowns and other social restrictions are horrible for any first-timers. I experienced large-scale social restrictions, during which no restaurant was open, cities felt like ghost towns and things operated exactly the opposite as I was used to. That was a horrifying experience and many people around the world have the same opinion as I.
Are Taiwanese and foreigners in Taiwan ready for these kinds of measures? I do not think so. Everyone has been so accustomed to normal life since the pandemic began that it would be difficult to adjust to these kinds of measures for the first time.
In addition, due to many reasons (mostly political), it has been difficult for Taiwan to obtain COVID-19 vaccines and there is only one available, the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is arguably the most controversial, and which led many people I spoke to in Taiwan to not want to get vaccinated. The Taiwanese-developed vaccine would not be available until at least July. It is also unlikely for Taiwan to buy Chinese vaccines, for safety and indeed, political reasons.
A Jan. 2 article in the New York Times, titled “How Taiwan plans to stay (mostly) COVID-free,” mentioned that Taiwan could continue its measures of sealing off from the outside world to buy more time to get organized, but Taiwan should not think of it as a strategy. It seems to me that 15 months have not been enough, and Taiwan cannot buy more time to get organized as the Central Epidemic Command Center declares that the virus has entered the community transmission stage.
Everyone in Taiwan must stay alert. I am sure we do not want to experience any lockdowns. Wear your mask at all times, bring your alcohol spray with you, and most importantly, do not go out unless it is really necessary. Otherwise, it is just a matter of time before we are all locked up, and remember that the availability of vaccines is still months away.
Tomy Waskitho
Post-graduate student, National Cheng Kung University
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