The “Taiwan model” for combating COVID-19 is a roadmap for the world, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Brent Christensen said yesterday at the start of the Coronavirus Hackathon.
Christensen, speaking at the Executive Yuan, where officials were announcing the start of the hackathon — a public event sponsored by the AIT and the government to find ways to fight against the pandemic — said that the “Taiwan model” could be summarized in five Ts: transparency, transportation controls, tracking, testing and technology.
Taiwan has ensured transparency when sharing information about its approach to preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus and policies with the public — and the WHO, despite it unfairly excluding the nation, he said.
Photo: CNA
The nation’s authorities were among the first to begin screening flights, mandating quarantines for people arriving from high-risk areas, organizing safe transportation and monitoring people in quarantine, he added.
The authorities have meticulously tracked individuals who had a high risk of exposure to COVID-19 and enforced a targeted testing protocol based on rigorous contact tracing, Christensen said.
The model has used numerous technologies, such as tracing the movements of a confirmed case — using data from cell phone towers and then broadcasting messages to other mobile phones that were at the same places at that time — and using data analysis when implementing mask rationing, he said.
“Taiwan’s response to COVID-19 has been more successful than any in the world, according to nearly all available metrics,” and despite its proximity to China, he said.
The hackathon is designed to build on these successes to devise transportation-related innovations to ensure an optimal transition leading up to the listing of travel restrictions, as well as to protect essential workers and people who lack the means to access vital services, he said.
Officials hopes to learn from the hackathon how to use artificial intelligence and big data to develop predictive tools to track the virus much in the same way weather is forecast, providing policymakers and the public the information they need to respond and stay ahead of the curve to prevent COVID-19 from getting out of control, Christensen said.
The hackathon is intended to gather input about how to use these technologies to manage health resources across jurisdictions to ensure that front-line healthcare personnel are properly protected and that people are informed of pandemic risks while maintaining democratic values to hopefully elicit voluntary cooperation with the government’s disease prevention policies, he said.
He hopes that the hackathon would be another example of the fresh thinking that is only found in Taiwan, combining innovative technologies with a commitment to social good, he added.
Taiwan, as a member of the global community, hopes to engage with other nations to research vaccines, provide medical supplies and use technology to fight COVID-19, Vice Premier Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said.
The US is a world leader in pharmaceuticals and vaccine research and development, which coupled with Taiwan’s strengths in universal health insurance, and information and communication technologies, would help the world defeat COVID-19, he said.
The AIT and the Executive Yuan are seeking the public’s responses to questions about COVID-19 starting on May 5.
ENTERTAINERS IN CHINA: Taiwanese generally back the government being firm on infiltration and ‘united front’ work,’ the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association said Most people support the government probing Taiwanese entertainers for allegedly “amplifying” the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda, a survey conducted by the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association showed on Friday. Public support stood at 56.4 percent for action by the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Culture to enhance scrutiny on Taiwanese performers and artists who have developed careers in China while allegedly adhering to the narrative of Beijing’s propaganda that denigrates or harms Taiwanese sovereignty, the poll showed. Thirty-three percent did not support the action, it showed. The poll showed that 51.5 percent of respondents supported the government’s investigation into Taiwanese who have
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
A Philippine official has denied allegations of mistreatment of crew members during Philippine authorities’ boarding of a Taiwanese fishing vessel on Monday. Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) spokesman Nazario Briguera on Friday said that BFAR law enforcement officers “observed the proper boarding protocols” when they boarded the Taiwanese vessel Sheng Yu Feng (昇漁豐號) and towed it to Basco Port in the Philippines. Briguera’s comments came a day after the Taiwanese captain of the Sheng Yu Feng, Chen Tsung-tun (陳宗頓), held a news conference in Pingtung County and accused the Philippine authorities of mistreatment during the boarding of
88.2 PERCENT INCREASE: The variants driving the current outbreak are not causing more severe symptoms, but are ‘more contagious’ than previous variants, an expert said Number of COVID-19 cases in the nation is surging, with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) describing the ongoing wave of infections as “rapid and intense,” and projecting that the outbreak would continue through the end of July. A total of 19,097 outpatient and emergency visits related to COVID-19 were reported from May 11 to Saturday last week, an 88.2 percent increase from the previous week’s 10,149 visits, CDC data showed. The nearly 90 percent surge in case numbers also marks the sixth consecutive weekly increase, although the total remains below the 23,778 recorded during the same period last year,