Only the paranoid survive! Why Taiwan has been successful handling the virus & lessons for world on what to do next time.

I've been in Taiwan practically since this started. Taiwan has 24 Million people. And 1 death so far. No cover up.

The reasons that Taiwan has been so successful to date are more complex than just good hygiene and fast lockdown. I've written below some of key reasons why, and lessons that the world could learn from this, for next time....

1. Only the paranoid survive.

The title of the greatest books of all time, by Andy Grove. Also, the way Taiwan has handled this from the start. After getting hit badly by SARS, Taiwan trusted no-one but themselves, and were paranoid about everything from overseas. Information, travellers etc. It worked.

2. Don't believe news from other countries.

Taiwan enacted SARS like response and emergency teams on the 5th Jan! They didn't trust any of the news coming out of China. And still don't. It wasn't about trusting central government or not, because as the Chinese Gov found out, they couldn't trust their local government (Wuhan) information either.

Lesson for the world: You have enough info these days to make your own decisions.

3. They aren't in WHO. 

China has always kept Taiwan out of WHO, and this time it was an advantage. In the early days of the pandemic, WHO was following China's direction - trying to keep a lid on information, and mindful of not upsetting China. Taiwan, who don't care, had to make their own decisions, without information from WHO. And that worked to their advantage. 

Lesson for the world: Make your own mind up. Be conscious that global firms, banks and orgs have vested interests, like the WHO.

4. Strong central government.

In the US and UK, thanks to populism we have a culture that hates government and wants it as small as possible. Consequently years of downsizing public health, police and education as left bare bones government infrastructure that can't cope in times like this when you need strong central gov. In contrast in Asia, strong central government, plus excellent public health and education systems, are keeping the spread, and mortality rates, low.

Lesson for the world, especially US: Maybe strong government, good public health and education systems are actually good for you!

5. Consistent information and education from government.

Taiwan Gov hasn't played politics once. It has consistently just put out information, training, education every day for the population, and the population listened. They didn't ignore it and go out and party, they listened and followed, and berated anyone who didn't.

Lesson for the world: Next time, focus on central, consistent education and information.

6. A smart masks policy focused on stopping the spread.

Masks work to contain the spread. It's not about protecting yourself. It's about stopping the spread. While people in the West concentrated on info about the effectiveness of masks stopping it for themselves, in Asia they thought about the collective, about everyone. Messages on the trains weren't about protect yourself, it was "wear a mask to stop infecting others". It's a subtle difference but it worked. Everyone wore them. And contained the spread. 

Lesson for the world: With a virus, it's not about you getting infected, it's about infecting others. That's what stops the spread.

7. Anyone ignoring advice will pay for their own health care. Even citizens.

Now Taiwan will experience a second wave of infections, driven so far exclusively by travellers and people returning. Taiwan has been smart about this again, and said that anyone who travels from now on, and comes back with the virus will pay the total amount for the health care themselves. Even if they are a citizen. Highly effective at stopping anyone travelling or ignoring policies.

Lesson for the world right now: Maybe implement a similar policy in your country. Anyone ignoring your directives and infecting themselves can pay for their own health care.

8. They didn't allow the President's son-in-law to lead policy :)

Finally, and most importantly, it's just been smart policies informed by smart people. Policy wasn't made up by the President's son-in-law. The fact that Jared was allowed to do that boggles the minds of people in Asia. In Taiwan, Singapore, Korea etc policy was determined by experts, and people with experience from SARS. 

Final lesson for the world: Maybe next time, leave it to the experts.