How Taiwan held off Covid-19, until it didn't


Throughout 2020, Taiwanese society largely remained open and the country had 7 COVID-19 deaths. Taiwan’s 2003 experience with SARS set up an existing infrastructure to act quickly, including a centralized information command center that coordinated activities across government and health offices. Personal data was used to assign each citizen a risk level. Low-risk people were required to wear free masks, but could go about business as normal. High-risk people and all in-bound travelers were required to strictly quarantine for two weeks and the government used cell phone data to ensure compliance.

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