For months and months, life in Taiwan has been, in a word, normal. People have packed pro ball games, attended cello concerts and thronged night markets. Its Covid-19 death toll can be counted on two hands.
It is the kind of success that has created a sinking feeling in the stomachs of many residents: How much longer can the island’s good fortune last?
The high walls have kept the island from being deluged with infections, but they risk isolating Taiwan economically and politically if the rest of the world relaxes its defenses as vaccinations get underway.
Japan and South Korea, two other Asian democracies praised for their virus responses, are now grappling with large flare-ups of new infections.
For Chen Shih-chung, Taiwan’s health minister and head of its epidemic command center, success is all the more reason not to waver on the government’s strategy. The island has been sealed off to most visitors since March. People who are allowed to enter still have to quarantine under tight watch for two weeks.
The government is not likely to budge on those policies until there are vaccines that are a proven, lasting weapon against the virus, Mr. Chen said in an interview. Taiwan will not be like one of those places, he suggested, that eased lockdowns under public pressure only to have to tighten them again later.
Taiwan has already held fast to its entry restrictions and quarantines for much longer than many governments could without facing a big public backlash. The island’s economy has slowed along with the world’s during the pandemic but it continues to grow at a decent clip.
“It’s remarkable that Taiwan has held the line for so long,” said C. Jason Wang, an associate professor at Stanford University School of Medicine. But even if the island vaccinates its population by the middle of 2021, “then you’ve still got six months to go,” he said. “It’s really difficult to keep this up for another six months.”
Currently, Taiwan expects to begin receiving vaccine doses as early as March.
“We came up with many of our policies when there were a few million infections around the world,” said Chan Chang-chuan, a professor at the College of Public Health at National Taiwan University. “But now there are tens of millions, and we’re heading toward a hundred million. It’s a whole different stage.”
— Raymond Zhong
source NYTimes