Taiwan’s unexpected covid spike

May 2021

For 17 months Taiwan enjoyed a remarkable Covid-19 pandemic with almost no local infections. Then it went wrong

Spreading like a web

When the coronavirus first appeared in Wuhan in late December 2019 Taiwan was expected to fare very badly given its close social and economic links to China. But thanks to swift action by the government, life on the island continued mostly as before. There was never any lock-down, public transport ran as usual and restaurants and bars remained open. The economy boomed as a result.

By early May 2021, Taiwan had recorded just over 1,200 cases in 23 million people, and just 12 deaths. More than 90% of these cases had been imported – that is, they were people who had caught the virus overseas and been isolated on arrival in Taiwan. There was almost no community transmission.

This incredible feat was greatly thanks to Dr Chen Shih-chung (陳時中)*, the Minister of Health and Welfare, and his hard-working team. Dr Chen had been deeply involved in almost every detail of the response and even chaired the daily press conferences.

Having learned from SARS in 2003, Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) had carefully monitored cases through contact-tracing. It also maintained strict quarantine rules and limited international travel as much as possible. Instead of going abroad, Taiwan’s residents had stayed home, with the result that the hotels were full, and it became almost impossible to get a ticket on the high-speed trains.

“Uncle Chen”, as he became known, was an unlikely star, with models of him available in stores, and competitions to guess what colour of microphone he would use each day. He was a national hero.

Until things went a bit awry

Then, in early May, a pilot returned from Australia where he had been infected with the virus. Two of his colleagues then went out for dinner when they were supposed to be monitoring their health at home. This led to further infections, including in places where contact-tracing is harder – in gambling houses and hostess bars (known locally as ‘teahouses’).

On 12 May, 16 new local infections were reported, the highest number of community infections ever. Over the next four days there were 800 more.

Within hours of the first hike, more than 600,000 people were sent text messages telling them to monitor their health and Taiwan’s supermarkets were flooded with people emptying the shelves, panic buying, even though there was no suggestion that there was a food shortage. In our local store, hundreds of people stood tightly together in long lines and waited for more than an hour to pay for their goods, despite the rise in infections.

Lacking some sense of proportion, an opposition politician called for Uncle Chen to be shot.

Uncle Chen

Over the following four days, cities were disinfected and all large gatherings were cancelled. The borders were completely shut to non-residents. Schools were also closed and all non-essential businesses were asked to shut shop.

Now the streets are almost empty and the public transport network has lost more than half its passengers. Yet what is regarded as an essential business remains unclear. Bookshops, some department stores, camera equipment shops and golf club retailers remain open, as do shops selling stationery. Some restaurants have closed, while others leave tables empty to create more distance between customers. Some have carried on as before.

The damage has been done though, as the virus had more than a week to spread in the community undetected. So the number of cases is continuing to grow, and there are even plans for field hospitals in case the situation gets out of control.

As well as the hike in Covid-19 infections, Taiwan is also fighting a surge in electricity demand thanks to daytime temperatures above 38 degrees. This has made the already very bad water shortage even more serious and led to power outages. The stock market has also taken a nose-dive, which is especially bad news for millions of small investors who thought the months-long rally would never end.

For well over a year Taiwan’s residents knew they were among the luckiest people in the world. Suddenly they’re not so sure.

We’ll update you on this one.

*See this article about why we include the Chinese characters.

** China Airlines is the national carrier of Taiwan. Air China is the Chinese carrier.