Because of its proximity to and frequent travelers to and from China, Taiwan faces complex challenges in preventing coronavirus disease (COVID-19). As soon as China reported the unidentified outbreak to the World Health Organization on December 31, 2019, Taiwan assembled a taskforce and began health checks onboard flights from Wuhan. Taiwan’s rapid implementation of disease prevention measures helped detect and isolate the country’s first COVID-19 case on January 20, 2020. Laboratories in Taiwan developed 4-hour test kits and isolated 2 strains of the coronavirus before February. Taiwan effectively delayed and contained community transmission by leveraging experience from the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak, prevalent public awareness, a robust public health network, support from healthcare industries, cross-departmental collaborations, and advanced information technology capacity. We analyze use of the National Health Insurance database and critical policy decisions made by Taiwan’s government during the first 50 days of the COVID-19 outbreak.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, 2019 novel coronavirus disease, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, viruses, respiratory infections, zoonoses, public health, SARS-CoV-2, coronavirus, Pneumonia, quarantine, SARS, Emerging infectious diseases, Health policy, Epidemic, outbreak, communicable diseases, electronic medical records, Taiwan, Data sharing, National Health Insurance, universal health care, 【초록키워드】 coronavirus disease, database, China, Health, COVID-19 outbreak, healthcare, implementation, Wuhan, community transmission, information, disease, Critical, strain, Support, World Health Organization, Government, insurance, acute respiratory syndrome, COVID-19 case, complex, measure, prevalent, robust, detect, reported, 【제목키워드】 technology, Policy, decision,