The government has implemented three measures ahead of other countries to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the Legislative Research Bureau said in a report on Friday, urging lawmakers to swiftly pass special legislation governing issues on coronavirus prevention, relief and recovery to help hard-hit sectors and better protect the rights of quarantined people.
The measures are the requirement that all direct flights arriving from Wuhan, China, be boarded and quarantined; the official designation of COVID-19 as a notifiable infectious disease; and increased travel advisory levels for countries with known cases of infections.
The measures show that Taiwan has been more proactive in fighting the outbreak than other countries, the report said, adding that the public has been cooperating with the measures, given the nation’s experience fighting the SARS outbreak in 2003.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
Given the rapid spread of COVID-19, quarantine measures would need to be expanded to prevent the virus from spreading domestically, it said, adding that hospitals would need to carefully watch and test all reported flu cases to ensure that the coronavirus does not go undetected.
The report urged lawmakers to pass a special bill to stimulate the economy and provide subsidies for industries affected by the outbreak.
The report expressed optimism about Taiwan’s recovery from the effects of the outbreak, saying that while the nation has closer interactions with China than other countries, the number of infections in the nation has remained low.
The number of infections in Taiwan is lower than that in Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Singapore, largely due to the government’s rapid response and effective measures, it said.
The situation in Taiwan also benefits from the nation’s good healthcare system and general public-health environment, it said.
However, the situation could be improved if Taiwan were a member of the WHO, it said, adding that lawmakers across party lines should cooperate to secure Taiwan’s accession to the organization.
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