Ｗhat have we learned from the sudden outbreak of pandemic in Taiwan?
Since the outbreak of the pandemic of Covid-19 in January 2020, although the number of confirmed cases still raised, with strategies of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and cooperation of people, the pandemic in Taiwan was under control moderately. Despite some inconvenience caused by the pandemic, people in Taiwan could live nearly as usual before May 2021. However, the sudden outbreak in mid-May has thoroughly changed the situation in Taiwan. Some problems among the central and local governments, reliable information about the pandemic, and epidemic prevention strategies have been discussed widely in the past month.
Take the central and local governments. Last year, strict border restrictions and strategies of fourteen-day quarantine have worked effectively and kept the number of confirmed cases less than 1,500. Compared with other countries, the performance of Taiwan was relatively outstanding. However, the situation made officials too confident to pay attention to potential risks. To be specific, the regulation of quarantine was sometimes adjusted for different industries. For instance, the fourteen-day quarantine was lightened to three-day quarantine and eleven-day autonomous health management for captains and flight attendants. It raised the risk of transmission and infection of the coronavirus. Also, the relatively steady conditions of the pandemic made the officials not interested in the discussion of prevention strategies for community transmission. On the other hand, the ambiguity of power and responsibility among the central and local governments has made it much more difficult to establish ideal policies of epidemic prevention.
Meanwhile, the cognition and attitude among people toward the pandemic still significantly matter. Due to the relatively steady situation in the past year, the number of people willing to get vaccinated is not enough. At the same time, news shows that some of those who get inoculated suffer from various side effects. It reveals the uncertainty of whether vaccines are safe or not. Besides, the allocation of vaccines relies on international and diplomatic issues. The number of vaccines that the central government will receive is still uncertain. Under the influence of these issues, people who have been vaccinated are not sufficient to prevent themselves from infection.
On the other hand, issues among policymaking are the other influential aspect. Because of the failure of cooperation between central and local governments, policies of disease screening, quarantine, and even keeping in touch with confirmed cases are different in each region. The situation makes it difficult for the CDC to make decisions based on the real condition. In addition, the influence of media matters. With the widespread misinformation and disinformation, the CDC spends lots of time clarifying those misleading ones. It aggravates the burden of officials who should pay attention to epidemic prevention and policymaking. Also, too much information which is not reliable confuses people.
Numerous issues among strategies of epidemic prevention led to the outbreak in mid-May. Therefore, the CDC issues “level 3 alert” which has been continuing since May 15th. Under the restriction of “level 3 alert,” public places such as cinemas and swimming pools are closed, and people should wear masks all the time when going out. To reduce the risks of cluster infection, numerous students can only take courses online, and many employees have to work from home. Life has thoroughly changed. However, even though the situation in the past year was relatively steady, officials and people in Taiwan seem to be not ready to face challenging conditions if the pandemic turns to be worse. The outbreak of community transmission since mid-May is a vivid example. As the article mentioned, due to the steady condition before May 2021, the attitude and cognition toward the pandemic from officials and people have been too confident to take potential risks into consideration.
To overcome problems in Taiwan, cooperation of the government and people is one of the most effective ways. To be specific, central and local governments have to cooperate and make the policymaking convincing first. Therefore, people will believe the decision of the government. In addition, following the regulation of wearing masks and avoiding unnecessary gatherings is still significant for all people in Taiwan. Meanwhile, blaming anyone who tested positive for Covid-19 is meaningless at all. If the atmosphere in the society is so unfriendly, it is likely to be difficult for officials to find potentially confirmed cases.
Although the situation in Taiwan was relatively steady in the past year, community transmission still happened in May 2021. The sudden outbreak reveals problems among the government and people. For the government, cooperation and proper allocation of recourse for epidemic prevention are the main issues. For people, the establishment of personal sanitation and getting vaccinated if need are crucial methods. In conclusion, the cooperation of the whole society is the most significant way to endure the impact of the pandemic.
written on June 13th.
