Taiwan Doubles Down On Facemask Wearing Against COVID-19

 

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While a lot of Asian countries have enviable records controlling the community spread of COVID-19, Taiwan - with a population of 23 million - remarkably has fewer than 700 domestic cases (and 7 deaths) since the outbreak began.  

Compared with Hong Kong (6500 cases, 110 deaths), Japan (148K cases, 2139 deaths), and even highly successful Vietnam (1358 cases, 35 deaths), Taiwan has probably done better, with less societal interruptions, than anyone else. 

But as other Asian nations see their cases rise, Taiwan is at increased risk of seeing more imported cases - and those have the potential to spark a surge in domestic infections.  Today, in view of Hong Kong's recent surge in COVID activity, Taiwan has removed them from their Low-and-Medium Risk category. 

The local epidemic situation in Hong Kong has risen sharply and will be removed from low- and medium-risk countries from today

The command center pointed out that the local epidemic situation in Hong Kong has increased sharply recently. Nearly 700 local confirmed cases have been reported within 2 weeks, of which 144 cases of infection are unknown, all of which have risen sharply from the previous period. Taking into account the recent escalation of the epidemic in Hong Kong, it will be removed from countries/regions with low and medium risk of infection from today. The latest list of infection risk levels in various countries is as follows:

1. Low-risk countries/regions: New Zealand, Macau, Palau, Fiji, Brunei, Thailand, Bhutan, Laos, Nauru, East Timor, Mauritius, Vietnam, Marshall Islands, Singapore, Cambodia.
2. Low- and medium-risk countries/regions: Australia.

Three days ago, in response to the surge in cases in Indonesia (550K cases, 17K deaths), Taiwan announced a 2-week ban on the entry of migrant workers from that country, starting on Friday.

From December 4th, the introduction of Indonesian migrant workers to Taiwan will be suspended for two weeks

Release Date: 2020-11-30

The Central Epidemic Command Center stated today (30) that in view of the severe COVID-19 epidemic in Indonesia, in order to maintain domestic epidemic prevention and reduce the continuous occurrence of Indonesian migrant workers from overseas, it will be from December 4 to 17 today (2020). , Will suspend the introduction of Indonesian migrant workers to work in Taiwan for two weeks, and depending on the local epidemic situation, will evaluate whether the weekly number of Indonesian migrant workers will be halved from December 18; in addition, whether it will further strengthen control measures or Resumption of normal introduction depends on rolling review of the epidemic situation.

While Taiwan has a strong mask-wearing culture - between these outside pressures, the arrival of Winter (Dec 1st) when conditions are more conducive to spreading respiratory diseases, and the upcoming 2021 Lunar New Year (Feb 12th) - Taiwan has announced stricter face mask/covering rules starting December 1st, with significant penalties for non-compliance. 

People should wear masks in eight categories of events, and those who do not listen will be punished

Release Date: 2020-12-02 

The Central Epidemic Command Center stated today (2) that my country has implemented the "Autumn and Winter Epidemic Prevention Project" on December 1, and it is mandatory for people to wear masks when performing activities in eight types of high-risk areas. Those who refuse to listen will be punished according to law.

The command center further explained that the eight categories of fields include "medical care, public transportation, living consumption, education and learning, exhibitions and games, leisure and entertainment, religious sacrifices, and public institutions (institutions)", etc. (example names are in the attachment). These venues are not easy to maintain social distance, and they will have close contact with unspecified people. Therefore, people are required to wear masks during activities in these venues to prevent the risk of Wuhan pneumonia and other diseases spread by droplets and air.

The command center pointed out that if people do not wear masks in accordance with the regulations, and those who do not listen to the persuasion of the site personnel, the local government will impose a fine of 3,000 to 15,000 yuan in accordance with Article 70, Item 1 of the Infectious Disease Control Law . If the people need to eat or drink in the above-mentioned places, they can temporarily remove the mask during eating and drinking, provided that they maintain social distancing from unspecified objects or have appropriate barrier devices (such as partitions).

The command center reminded that because there are many relevant places in the high risk of infection transmission, it is impossible to list them all. In principle, it meets the condition of "indoor places that are not easy to maintain social distance and will have close contact with unspecified people", even if the place you enter is not Is listed in the illustrated name, still wear a mask. In addition, if the public finds that someone does not wear a mask in accordance with the regulations, they should inform the venue staff to deal with it. The venue staff will first persuade them. If they still refuse to listen after persuasion, the venue staff can collect relevant evidence and information to report to the local government.

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Although the order describes 8 broad categories, a separate document provides additional detail.

• Medical care:
• Medical institutions (hospitals, clinics, blood donation centers), nursing institutions (general nursing homes, postpartum nursing homes, mental care homes), elderly welfare institutions (long-term
• Long-term care institutions, nursing homes, and other welfare institutions for the elderly), long-term care service institutions (home-based, community-based, institutional accommodation, integrated), honor country
• Homes of the people, welfare institutions for children and juveniles (childcare centers, early nursing care institutions, and placement and nursing institutions), welfare institutions for the physically and mentally handicapped, and other similar places

• Public transportation: 
• High-speed railway, Taiwan railway, MRT, light rail, national highway and highway passenger transportation, urban buses, taxi carriages and stations, sea and air flights and terminals

• Living consumption :
• Tourist hotels, hotels, shopping malls (shopping centers), department stores, indoor retail markets, supermarkets, exhibition venues, furniture display stores, community pharmacies, medicines
• Retail pharmacies, retail medical equipment vendors, drugstores, retail stores and other similar places
• Educational 
• Learning Community colleges, senior learning centers, training classes, K-book centers, social education institutions (social education halls, science education halls, libraries) and other similar places

• Watching the exhibition and watching the movie film screening places
• (theatre, movie theater), assembly hall, gymnasium, activity center, performance place (concert hall, performance hall, museum, art gallery, exhibition
• Museums, historical sites, memorials), indoor skating rinks, indoor swimming pools, amusement parks, franchised children’s playgrounds and other similar places
• Leisure and entertainment
• Cruises, cabarets, dance halls, nightclubs, clubs, restaurants, bars, hotels (galleries), video shows with broadcasting venues (MTV), audio-visual singing venues
• (KTV), Rongyuan (sightseeing hairdressing, audio-visual grooming), Shiatsu massage place, fitness and leisure center (including a beauty and slimming field with facilities such as Shiatsu and sauna Place), bowling alley, pool court, fitness center (including national sports center), indoor screen golf driving range, amusement center, electronic game field, information rest
• Leisure places and other similar places
• Religious sacrifices 
• Temples, palaces, churches (churches), funeral halls, mourning halls and cremation sites, ashes (skeletons) storage facilities and other similar places
• Consult with public agencies (institutions), banks, securities and futures dealers, insurance companies, telecommunications companies, and cable television companies, credit cooperatives, post offices, credit departments of agricultural and fishery associations, and government agencies at all levels 
  

While many people dislike wearing masks, the proof of their worth is in the greatly educed numbers we see coming from countries and cultures which embrace their use.