tl;dr | The factors that make Taiwan cope with COVID in this way
As of today, there are more than 34M cases worldwide, 7M cases in the US, 6M in India, 57k in Singapore, and only 515 cases in Taiwan. With the context of the situation in some of the countries, let’s zoom in to the reasons behind the reactions Taiwan has taken to face Covid-19.
SARS Experience
17 years ago, around the Chinese New Year (CNY) season in 2003, I was a kid but I remembered there was a severe pandemic called SARS. I, like many of the Taiwanese, can’t recall all the details today but there was a lockdown that happened to a hospital caused by the epidemic, and many people died due to the disease.
So around CNY in the year of 2020, when no one knew what the pandemic is about but heard that there were many people infected in China for unknown reasons or some kind of virus similar to SARS, with the impression and memory from 17 years ago, Taiwanese knew that we have to be cautious and pay attention to the situation since the beginning.
Key People & Leadership
Many people are not aware of this point cause it’s so natural to Taiwanese but not obvious to foreigners. With my experience and observation from status in other countries, I know this is definitely a privilege. We happened to have a Vise President, Chen Chien-jen, who is an epidemiologist, and Vice Premier, Chen Chi-mai, who is an expert in the public health field. With their expertise, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) was set in place in early-stage. The team would only focus on “solving the problem” and save their energy and time from “convince the leaders that this is the right way to solve the problem.”
Besides, the Minister of Health and Welfare, Chen Shih-chung leads CECC in this pandemic. He held the official announcement in the press conference every day in the early stage of the pandemic. Now the frequency has decreased due to the low cases in Taiwan. In this conference, he would share the latest status, announce the latest policy, and answer all the questions from the public. Beyond sharing the outbreak situation, he and his team also educate the public on the right attitude, e.g. to empathize with others, to connect with others when we are apart, etc. One good example is the team wore pink masks in one of the press conferences in response to a bullying fear from a boy.
Another person who deserves to be mentioned is Audrey Tang, Taiwan Digital Minister. He is one of the key people who enable so-called “Collective intelligence and Social Innovation”. He believes all people’s voices should be heard by the government. He shared how Taiwan reacts to COVID-19 with the strategy of Fast, Fair, and Fun, but all these can’t be done without the channels between the Gov and the People, the bridge between the Old and New Generation, and the trustworthy platforms open for the public.
I believe every country has these roles in the government, but definitely not all the governments react to the pandemic, to the people, to the policy in the same way. As a Taiwanese, I am satisfied with the actions these leaders have taken.
Infrastructure & Environment
80% of people own a smartphone in Taiwan. Out of the 23M population in Taiwan, 21M of them are on Line, 19M are on Facebook. There are multiple social media and chatting services available in the market but the Taiwanese chose to use these two services the most. Having the mainstream platforms in this crisis matters. Almost all the government sectors have an official account on these two platforms. The gov communicates with the public in the first place with the accurate messages therefore “fake news” would less likely spread out. Even if there was fake news or confusion from people, a hotline was set up for people to reach out if they wanted to. The government was able to react to fake news efficiently since there are only two channels to manage. With the high internet coverage, streamlined communication channels, and the mechanism of solving confusion, the correct messages were able to spread out in time.
Industry & Resources
The manufacturing industry in Taiwan is upgrading with the latest technology like cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), or big data etc. [reference], but the experience of setting up assembly lines, planning standard operation processes for making electronic components or plastic toys, etc. accumulated from the 1990s has helped Taiwan in this crisis.
From Jan 2020, the gov asked the upstream and downstream companies’ support to start making masks. With the experience from the 1990s, companies were able to set up the assembly lines rapidly. A few weeks later, the public was able to purchase the masks in the pharmacies. Then gradually the productivity improved and the system for reserving masks upgraded. Without the factories and companies’ support, the masks would not have been enough. We called those factories and companies the “National Mask Team.”
A month later after the beginning of the epidemic crisis, many countries are starting worried about food supply in the countries. Formosa, the island located in the Pacific Ocean, known as Taiwan, is rounded by the ocean and contributes fishing industry. Though with only 35k km square of the size, the agriculture is well developed. Able to provide food with domestic supply eases the situation as well.
Healthcare System & Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC)
Though the healthcare system has been losing money and the deficit is getting worse, the system helps a lot in this crisis. All the citizens and eligible PR in Taiwan should have a Healthcare ID Card. The government has fully digitized the Healthcare ID Card with Gov systems. That says Taiwanese can take the Healthcare ID Card to the pharmacies, after the identity is confirmed, the person will receive the masks. That helps to track the infected status in the country as well. The situation has been well controlled, which ensures the limited resources are used for only people needed.
Besides, every day the CECC announces the latest status, updates the policy and suggestions. Transparent communication helps the public understand the current situation, trust the government, and also relieve unnecessary panic and anxiety.
Participation from Public
The ordinary people from the public have pushed the related sectors of government to come out with better ideas.
Taking the mask system as an example. In the first phase, each Taiwanese could purchase 3 masks per week with their healthcare ID at the local pharmacies. Back then people woke up early and there were always long queues outside of the pharmacies. One initiative from the crowds is that someone built a system that enables others to check if there are still masks available at each pharmacy. This seems like a small step now but it has triggered the following actions.
In the second phase, the factories increase the productivity of making masks. Then people could get 9 masks biweekly. The gov also built the connection between the healthcare ID and the Passport. So that the doctors can check where the patients have been to in the past and make the accurate decision. Gradually people can reserve their masks by the online service with reasonable extra charge. After a while, people can start picking up their masks at convenient stores. Meanwhile, the gov is donating the masks to other regions where needed. And people in Taiwan can start sending the masks to their Taiwanese family overseas. In the later stage, the government is telling Taiwanese that if you feel you have enough masks and may not require more for that batch, you can donate your quota to others in other parts of the world from the online service. Taiwan can help. And you can help too.
Another example is in early April, Taiwan was accused of attacking WHO. In just a few hours, a Taiwanese student studying in the UK shared an open letter to Dr Tedros. There was a crowdfunding project proposed by a well-known Youtuber, aiming to show the world how Taiwan can help, and how Taiwan has been helping. The project ended up funded more than 400% than targeted. With the project, the team purchased a full page on The New York Times (paper and digital media), published a website, taiwancanhelp.us, and work with some international influencers to share Taiwan’s experience. [reference]
If a student and a group of Taiwanese could initiate things like these examples, how can the government do less?
Social Norm & Culture
Not like the weather in Singapore is always hot, in Taiwan, there are different seasons. The weather can differ from around 10℃ in winter to 38℃ in summer. Wearing masks is a common thing. People wear masks in the office due to the dry air caused by air conditioning. People wear masks in public transportation to prevent them from getting the flu. Students, especially children, wear masks in school to prevent viruses. Those are all common mindsets.
Most of the countries in Asia are densely populated compared to western countries. When the governments ask people to follow rules, whether they are convinced or not, most people would do. In Asia, I’ve seen a few countries protect people by using technology like tracking GPS or taking SMS or taking instant message services as communication channels.
To fight the pandemic, there are a few critical factors: fast reacting to the situation, washing hands frequently and correctly, keeping social distance, keeping track of the status then iterating the policy, and efficiently sharing with the public. After seeing what had happened in many other countries, I gradually realized that it’s the combination of all the factors above that makes Taiwan fighting the crisis extraordinary.
SARS didn’t only impact Taiwan back then, but not all the impacted countries reacted immediately. Almost all the countries have their Presidents or Ministers of Healthcare, but each country reacted to the situation differently. Many countries are much bigger than Taiwan, but not all of them could keep social distancing. Many countries have a lower population or newer technology, but not all of them could communicate with their people effectively, not all the people in each country were willing to help their government solve the problem. Not all the people in each country were willing to follow what the government asked either.
If the leader of the country didn’t treat the pandemic seriously and respect the experts, if the healthcare system and hospital system are not well-developed, and if the people didn’t trust their governments, the situation could go much worse.
In the previous article, I shared my observation countries like the US, India, Singapore, and Taiwan. In this article, I share my thoughts about the reasons behind the approaches Taiwan has been taken. In the next article, I want to share what I learn from the pandemic and how to apply the learnings to the product design process.
