(Original source: Office of the President)
On 28 February, Taiwan Vice President Chen Chien-jen sat down for an interview with Japanese –language media outlet Sankei News to highlight Taiwan’s experience in dealing with COVID-19. Vice President Chen, an epidemiologist by training who previously served as Taiwan’s Minister of Health during the SARS epidemic in 2003, stressed that Taiwan has done a good job of containing the virus. The VP pointed out Taiwan has not developed cluster infections, such as in South Korea or Singapore, and attributed the country’s low number of coronavirus cases to experience from the SARS epidemic. “The Centers for Disease Control and the Central Epidemic Command Center have an experienced chain of command providing a swift response, as Taiwan will always be faced with the challenge of diseases coming from other nations,” he stated. Vice President Chen pointed out that due to the many Taiwanese working in China and the large number of Chinese tourists, the government was prepared to see a high number of COVID-19 patients enter Taiwan, like the SARS epidemic. “If travellers coming to Taiwan are healthy and remain healthy, it will be a win-win situation for everyone,” the vice president said.
Commenting on China locking down cities to contain the outbreak of coronavirus, Vice President Chen said the decision carries significant economic and security costs, adding that it would be better to implement disease prevention measures when there is an infection cluster. In response to questions about Taiwan and the World Health Organization (WHO), the VP stressed that while Taiwan is not a member of the WHO, it works harder than many of its members in advancing health care. He pointed out that Taiwan could have offered constructive advice early last month about the situation in Wuhan, China, if it was allowed to join the WHO.
