Premier Su lauds Taiwan’s coronavirus-fighting efforts

2020/02/10

The government’s new coronavirus-fighting efforts are proving effective, with all relevant agencies and ministries maintaining maximum vigilance to ensure the health and well-being of the people, according to Premier Su Tseng-chang Feb. 6.
 
 Advanced planning and timely response measures are keeping the situation fully under control, Su said. The decision to carry out onboard inspections of all aircraft arriving from Wuhan following initial reports of the virus in the Chinese city late last year proved fortuitous, he added.
 
 Su said other farsighted steps include designating the virus a notifiable disease Jan. 15, two weeks before the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a global health emergency, suspending surgical mask exports and rationing domestic supplies.
 
 As a precautionary measure, Su said, school reopening was postponed to after Feb. 25, enhanced border controls implemented and economy-related agencies and ministries instructed to prepare stimulus measures for at-risk industries.
 
 Given the country’s advanced biotechnology R&D capabilities, Su said, there is no question Taiwan Can Help strengthen the global disease prevention and management network while sharing its health care know-how via activities, mechanisms and meetings of the WHO.
 
 According to the Central Epidemic Command Center under the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Centers for Disease Control, 16 cases of the virus were confirmed in Taiwan as of Feb. 6. A total of 28,018 cases have been identified in China, with 211 reported in 26 other countries and territories.

Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/index.php)