Taiwan, Taipei, Yachi, Taiwanese, 27, Event planner, Not married/ No kids
General
How is the situation in your city/ country? Is there a 2nd wave yet?
It’s really lucky for us to live in Taiwan, we live normal as usual. You could meet up with friends, family and travel around with mask on the transportation. There are 170 local cases, one popped up after 253 days without local cases, so goverment took some public area control (not a lockdown). The total cases including foreign cases are 771 so far. There is no second wave for us, not even a first one, we never locked down boarders between cities, but since February, our goverment has already taken control of the national border.
How did the atmosphere in your country change within the last months?
Except some big concerts or events cancelled, and mask on the train, bus and all the public transportation needed, nothing changed that much, we were still celebrating Xmas and New Year in the bar and with fireworks.
How are you and your family?
They are fine, we could meet up anytime we want to.
What was the biggest challenge for you within the last months?
Remember to bring my mask before I take the train, after fighting with my ex lol.
Measures
When did you realize how serious the situation is?
Around the end of Febuary. We needed to do isolation after I came back from Japan.
How did your government react to the crisis? Which measures/restrictions were taken first?
We had been in place since the SARS scare of 2003, there are some people who have trained for years for this. Given the continual spread of COVID-19 around the world, understanding the action items that were implemented quickly in Taiwan and assessing the effectiveness of these actions in preventing a large-scale epidemic, may be instructive for other countries.
On January 27, the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) and the National Immigration Agency integrated patients’ past 14-day travel history with their NHI identification card data from the NHIA; this was accomplished in 1 day. Taiwan citizens’ household registration system and the foreigners’ entry card allowed the government to track individuals at high risk because of recent travel history in affected areas.
On January 30, the NHIA database was expanded to cover the past 14-day travel history for patients from China, Hong Kong, and Macau. On February 14, the Entry Quarantine System was launched, so travelers can complete the health declaration form by scanning a QR code that leads to an online form, either prior to departure from or upon arrival at a Taiwan airport.
On February 18, the government announced that all hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies in Taiwan would have access to patients’ travel histories.Goverment also announced included when and where to wear a mask, the importance of handwashing, and the danger of hoarding masks to prevent them from becoming unavailable to frontline health workers.
The most important thing could be that the trust never existed between Taiwan and China, our govement did’nt trust what they announced from the very beginning.
Are you satisfied with the measures of your government? What was good/bad?
They do a very good job.
What would you like to say to your government?
I’m so proud of being born here. There are many foreigners who came to Taiwan just to avoid the virus.
Which sentence of a virologist/politician did you memorize the most?
–
The Virus
Do you know anybody who was infected with COVID-19 or even died?
No.
Have you already done a Coronavirus test or have you been in quarantine?
No.
Are you afraid of getting infected with the Coronavirus?
From the beginning, yes.
The lockdown
How long is/was your lockdown and what was allowed/what wasn´t?
There has never been a lockdown here.
Did you spend the lockdown time with somebody and what did you do during this time?
–
What did you miss the most during the lockdown? What helped you?
–
Changes
How did your work situation change within the last months (shorter hours, working from home, etc.)
We never work from home, unless I got fever. My friends work in a foreign company, they said all their colleagues work from home all over the world, except Taiwan.
How did your social life (relationship/friendships/dating) change due to the Corona crisis?
We don’t really have problem for social life.
What impact has the Corona crisis on your financial situation?
I used to import some outdoor gears and sell to people, since the virus breakout, it slow down a lot of work from different countries, and made a lot of troubles. I stopped the importing things for a while, but it doesn’t affect that much for my financial situation.
Social distancing: How does your daily life look like at the moment?
Normal.
Perception
Who are to your opinion the heroes of this crisis?
My goverment.
What did the crisis show you?
Taiwanese citizens are united and together fighting the virus.
What will you appreciate more after the crisis?
My goverment.
Which images will you never forget?
People wait in line for the masks for hours.
Which stories/incidents/experiences touched/shattered you the most?
I forgot my mask before I took the train after fighting with my ex.
Perspective
What are you afraid of right now?
That someone doesn’t follow the rules by the goverment.
What gives you hope?
The world, everyone cooperates.
Are you planning to travel within the next months?
Nope, but in Taiwan, yes we always do.
Would you get yourself vaccinated against COVID-19??
Maybe.
What can we all learn from this crisis?
People should be united and follow the instructions that the government gave.
If you could give 2020 a headline, what would it be?
Taiwan, the most beautiful and safe country in the world.