Taiwan’s COVID-19 containment strategy utilizing innovative tech

Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 510 million confirmed cases and more than 6.25 million deaths have been reported around the world. As nations continue to battle the pandemic, Taiwan’s achievements have been widely recognized. And thanks to a joint effort by the government and the people, Taiwan’s economic growth rate for 2021 reached 6.45 percent.

Taiwan’s National Health Insurance (NHI) system, which was launched in 1995, has played an important role in the fight against the pandemic. The NHI system provides comprehensive and high-quality health services, achieving universal (99.9 percent) coverage.

Taiwan’s robust healthcare and NHI systems have safeguarded the people and ensured social stability during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the NHI’s comprehensive database and other up-todate information systems have been critical in ensuring the successful application of digital technology for disease prevention.

During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in February 2020, to reduce the risk of community transmission, the government implemented the Quarantine System for Entry by integrating NHI, immigration, and customs databases to allow for big data analysis.

Data was introduced to the Digital Fencing Tracking System, which used the positioning system on mobile phones to monitor the whereabouts of people under home quarantine or isolation. Moreover, to ensure privacy, personal data captured was stored for a maximum of 28 days and then deleted.

To ensure that all residents would enjoy equitable access to medical masks as demand increased, people were required to use their NHI card to purchase masks under the Name-based Mask Distribution

System, helping to prevent an imbalance in supply and demand. While protecting personal data, a new function for querying the travel and contact history of patients was added to the NHI MediCloud System to effectively integrate health data. This helped frontline medical personnel judge infection risks and take relevant infection control measures.

Taiwan was able to contain the pandemic while having people lead normal lives and achieving positive economic growth through the precise use of technology, information transparency, strict border controls, and accurate screening and case investigation. However, with the worldwide spread of the Omicron variant since the end of 2021, community transmission also began to increase in Taiwan.

The variant appears to be much more contagious but to cause mild or no symptoms. Trying to block the transmission of every single case would be a vain effort that would greatly affect people’s livelihoods.

The government has therefore chosen to aim at eliminating severe cases, managing mild cases, minimizing overall impacts, and caring for moderate and severe cases since April 2022. This new Taiwan Model seeks to allow people to lead normal lives while active epidemic prevention measures remain in place and the country is steadily opening up.

Taiwan has adopted a triage approach, having milder COVID-19 cases undergo home care and reserving hospital treatment for members of highrisk groups, such as moderate and severe cases and the elderly. During home care, people can access emergency medical consultations through mobile apps. A network of pharmacists and community pharmacies has been put together to provide consultations and deliver medicines.

As of the end of April 2022, about 80 percent of the people in Taiwan had received a primary series of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 60 percent had received a booster dose.

The world today continues to face challenges of the pandemic, vaccine supply, and the postpandemic recovery. Countries should work together and prepare for possible future pandemics. Taiwan is an indispensable partner in ensuring a successful postpandemic recovery. To contain the pandemic, Taiwan has continued to cooperate with other countries on the research and development of COVID-19 vaccines and drugs and has donated medical supplies, such as medical masks and medicines, to countries in need. This has demonstrated that Taiwan can help, and Taiwan is helping.

The 75th World Health Assembly (WHA) will be held in May. For the past five years, Taiwan has not been invited to participate in the WHA. To ensure that Taiwan is not left behind and there is no coverage gap in global health, Taiwan seeks to participate in the WHA this year in a professional and pragmatic manner, so that it can make contributions as part of the global effort to realize WHO’s vision of a seamless global disease prevention network.

We urge WHO and related parties to support Taiwan’s inclusion in WHO and allow it to fully participate in WHO meetings, mechanisms, and activities. Taiwan will continue to work with the rest of the world to ensure that all enjoy the fundamental human right to health as stipulated in the WHO Constitution. In the spirit of the United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, no one should be left behind.