With the Rapid Changes of the Epidemic Situation, Epidemic Prevention Policy Needs Forward-Looking Deployment

 With the Rapid Changes of the Epidemic Situation, Epidemic Prevention Policy Needs Forward-Looking Deployment

United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

February 13, 2020

 Translation of an Excerpt

Since the COVID-19 epidemic outbreak, Taiwan on January 20^th set up a third-level Central Epidemic Command Center and on the 23^rd upgraded it to a second-level in order to cope with the first half month, when the epidemic situation was extremely difficult to grasp. Although there have been tanglings of chaos over face masks, chaos over school openings, disputes over leaves for epidemic prevention, even over ferrying of Taiwan residents in Wuhan, etc., the professional performance is worthy of affirmation that the line has been strictly held, with only over a dozen confirmed cases, and no community infections. However, as the Mainland epidemic situation is still changing and developing, in Taiwan, an infected patient with no symptoms has also occurred, the epidemic prevention policy has to be carefully reviewed and institute forward-looking deployment.

For the curve of changes for this wave of the epidemic situation, various circles have different speculations. For instance, a professor of chemistry at National Taiwan University believes that between mid-February to the end of March, the apex will be reached. On the Mainland, experts have also made some judgments: the epidemic situation in places outside of Hubei will reach a turning point around February 20^th, while it will appear in Wuhan a month later. Zhong Nanshan, an expert in contagious diseases on the Mainland, has assessed that the epidemic situation will reach the apex in the middle or last part of this month, followed by a period of stability, and then diminishing, possibly ending in April.

Solid defense against the enemy has always been the iron law for epidemic prevention; epidemic prevention deployment must be forward-looking, and we must pay attention to such measures as putting the people at ease, stabilizing the society and economics, never creating chaos again. If, as mentioned by Vice President Chen Chien-jen, a public health specialist, the "COVID-19 pneumonia could turn into another flu", with the possibility of being cyclical in occurrence, then that would be a lasting battle, and epidemic prevention deployment being routine, it should make the necessary adjustments.

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