Taiwan makes itself a COVID-19 safe zone without draconian measures: lessons and caveats

Abstract

Purpose

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has helped Taiwan gain widespread recognition and commendation. Taiwan's low infection rate is praiseworthy not merely because it was once considered a high-risk region but because it has weathered the COVID-19 storm without resorting to draconian measures. The purpose of this paper is thus an effort to understand and explain how Taiwan has been able to achieve a fine balance between disease containment and everyday life.

Design/methodology/approach

According to the COVID-19 Government Response Event Dataset, Taiwan’s actions focus mainly on the management of health resource allocation, external border restrictions, quarantine of high-risk cases and the establishment of a centralized crisis task force. On this basis, the authors highlight and discuss the critical factors for Taiwan’s success against COVID-19. Caveats are also detailed to caution some aspects of the lessons to be drawn from it.

Findings

Setting clear goals, effective leadership, active community participation and innovative solutions are four pillars of Taiwan’s success against COVID-19. The island believes that once stringent border controls are strictly executed, virus-free citizens can relax inside. However, those who would like to learn from Taiwan’s experience should be mindful of the likelihood of asymptomatic spread of the disease as well as the unique geographical and social characteristics that contribute to Taiwan’s approach to COVID-19.

Originality/value

The authors’ analysis of Taiwan adds anecdotes to the scholarly discussion on public health emergency management, suggesting that anti-COVID-19 policy would get its intended outcomes only if government leaders and community stakeholders collaborate to set clear goals ahead and implement them with innovative solutions.

Citation

Hsieh, C.-W. and Wang, M. (2021), "Taiwan makes itself a COVID-19 safe zone without draconian measures: lessons and caveats", Social Transformations in Chinese Societies, Vol. 17 No. 2, pp. 109-116. https://doi.org/10.1108/STICS-09-2020-0022