The virus was confirmed to have spread to Taiwan on 21 January 2020, with the first case being a 50-year-old woman who had been teaching in Wuhan, China.[6] The Taiwanese government integrated data from the national health care system, immigration, and customs authorities to aid in the identification and response to the virus. Government efforts are coordinated through the National Health Command Center [fr] (NHCC) of the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control, established to aid in disaster management for epidemics following the 2003 SARS outbreak.[7][8] The Journal of the American Medical Association says Taiwan engaged in 124 discrete action items to prevent the spread of the disease, including early screening of flights from Mainland China and the tracking of individual cases.[9][10]
Starting 19 March 2020, foreign nationals were barred from entering Taiwan with some exceptions such as those carrying out the remainder of business contracts and those holding valid Alien Resident Certificates, diplomatic credentials, or other official documentation and special permits.[11] Restrictions have since been relaxed for foreign university students and those seeking medical treatment in Taiwan, subject to prior government approval.[12][13] All who are admitted into the country must complete a fourteen-day quarantine upon arrival, except for business travelers from countries determined to be at low or moderate risk, who are subject to five- or seven-day quarantines and must submit to a COVID-19 test.[14][15]
In response to the worldwide spike in cases in October and November 2020, Taiwan announced that all travelers to and transiting through Taiwan, regardless of nationality, origin, or purpose, must submit a negative COVID-19 test performed within three working days of arrival.[16][17][18][19] Exceptions are granted to travelers responding to family emergencies or arriving from countries where on-demand or self-paid tests are unavailable, but they are required to be seated apart from other passengers and take a self-paid test immediately on arrival in Taiwan.[20]
In 2020, the pandemic had a smaller impact in Taiwan than in most other industrialized countries, with a total of seven deaths.[21][22] The number of active cases in this first wave peaked on 6 April 2020 at 307 cases, the overwhelming majority of which were imported.[23] Taiwan's handling of the outbreak has received international praise for its effectiveness in quarantining people.[10][24]
However, an outbreak among Taiwanese crew members of the state-owned China Airlines in late April 2021 led to a sharp surge in cases, mainly in the Greater Taipei area, from mid May. In response, the closure of all schools in the area from kindergarten to high schools was mandated for two weeks, and national borders were closed for at least a month to those without a residence permit, among other measures.[25] In addition to a low testing rate and the recent shortening of the quarantine period for pilots to just three days,[26] Taiwanese medical experts said that they had expected the flare-up due to the emergence of more transmissible variants of the coronavirus (the Alpha variant was found in many of those linked to the China Airlines cluster[26]), combined with the slow progress of Taiwan's vaccination campaign. Critics linked the latter issue to several factors, including Taiwan's strategy of focusing on its own vaccine development and production, making it less ready to quickly buy overseas vaccines once those became available; and hesitation among residents to get vaccinated due to previously low case numbers.[27] Additionally, heavy reporting on rare side effects of the AstraZeneca vaccine was believed to have played a role. Demand for vaccines greatly increased, however, with the surge in cases from May 2021.[28]
Sources: Taiwan Centers for Disease Control[29]/Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (JHU)[30]/National Center for High-Performance Computing[31]
Notes: The hiatus in the statistics of recoveries has made further data unreasonable. The consensus on this issue on Chinese Wikipedia reads that no recoveries should be added unless count resumed.
As of 19 March 2023[update], there are 10,231,343 confirmed cases in Taiwan, including 18,775 deaths.[32]
Exercise of street cleaning led by the Republic of China Army Chemical Corps in Taiwan in February 2020.
On 21 January, the first case in Taiwan was confirmed in a 50-year-old woman who had just returned to Taoyuan International Airport from her teaching job in Wuhan.[6][33] She self-reported on her own initiative and was hospitalized without formal domestic entry.[33] The first domestic case was diagnosed in Taiwan on 28 January. A man in his 50s was believed to have acquired the disease from his wife, who had traveled to Wuhan and was confirmed before him.[34] Among the first confirmed cases was a Taiwanese man in his 50s who was fined NT$300,000 for failure to report his symptoms and attempting to conceal his subsequent activities, leading to a potential contamination incident at a ballroom in Kaohsiung.[35]
The first death in Taiwan was confirmed on 16 February, involving a man in his 60s who had both Hepatitis B and diabetes. His was the fifth death in the world outside mainland China.[36] A woman in Taiwan was reported to have tested positive for novel coronavirus on 19 February 2020, though she had not traveled outside of Taiwan for two years.[37] Five new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Taiwan on 29 February 2020, four of which marked the first transmission of the disease in a hospital setting.[38] Taiwan's fiftieth case of coronavirus was confirmed on 13 March 2020, an American expatriate who hosted four United States citizens at his home in Taiwan.[39] The next day, three new cases of coronavirus were confirmed to have been imported from Europe.[40] A Taiwanese national aboard the Diamond Princess tested positive on 6 February.[41] As of 19 February, five Taiwanese nationals aboard the ship tested positive.[42] Two Taiwanese who fell ill on the Diamond Princess were discharged from Japanese hospitals in February 2020.[43] The nineteen other Taiwanese passengers on the Diamond Princess were quarantined in Taiwan until 7 March 2020. All tested negative for coronavirus and were released.[44] The index case for coronavirus in Taiwan recovered from the disease and was discharged from the hospital on 6 February 2020.[45] Approximately a week later, a second Taiwanese national, the tenth case of coronavirus, had also recovered.[46] Though community spread within the Taiwanese society did not necessarily break out, a hospital cluster was recorded after case 34. A female patient with diabetes and numerous cardiovascular diseases transmitted the virus to eight people contacted throughout February and March.[47] She later died due to heart failure on 30 March.[48]
On 15 March, Taiwan announced six new cases, all imported. Subsequently, Taiwan's health minister advised people to remain in Taiwan and avoid travel.[49] After discovering the mass imports of foreign cases, on 17 March, the CECC announced that it would trace the contacts of travelers that had arrived from Europe between 3 and 14 March.[50] On 20 March 2020, Taiwan reported 27 new cases, the highest single-day increase.[51] The second death linked to coronavirus in Taiwan was announced on 20 March and involved a man in his 80s who had no recent travel history, but did have hypertension, diabetes and relied on kidney dialysis.[52] The death of a guide who had led tours to Austria and the Czech Republic was reported on 29 March.[53] The next day, two Taiwanese nationals who had traveled to Spain were reported to have died of coronavirus.[54]
Vice Admiral Kao Chia-pin, who had been removed from the post as commander of Republic of China Naval Fleet Command in responsible for the outbreaks of serious affections in Taiwan military, respectively.[clarification needed]
A Taiwanese man who had toured Egypt in March died of coronavirus on 9 April.[55] On 18 April 2020, three Republic of China Navy cadets were confirmed to have contracted coronavirus following a military operation in Palau.[56] Other personnel on the ship were confirmed to have contracted the disease as part of the first cluster to affect the Republic of China Armed Forces.[57] As more cases from that cluster were identified,[58][59][60][61][62][63][64][excessive citations] President Tsai Ing-wen asked the Ministry of National Defense to investigate the situation.[65] Defense Minister Yen Teh-fa said vice admiral Kao Chia-pin and rear admiral Chen Tao-hui had been removed from their posts as commander of Republic of China Naval Fleet Command and leader of the ROCN's Friendship Fleet, respectively.[66] On 30 April 2020, an employee of the Taipei Representative Office in France was confirmed to have fallen ill with coronavirus, becoming the first Taiwanese diplomat stationed overseas to contract the disease.[67][68]
On 10 May, Taiwan recorded 28 consecutive days or two cycles of the average incubation period of the virus without newly recorded domestic cases.[69] Therefore, the CECC deems the risk of being infected within Taiwan is low.[70] The death of a man who had visited the United States and contracted coronavirus was confirmed on 11 May.[71] On 26 May, Chang Shan-chwen announced an end to the Central Epidemic Command Center's investigation on COVID-19 cases from ROCS Panshih. The ship's index case was likely to have been infected in Taiwan. Though the probe closed without finding a more specific location, it did find that sailors were infected with a Southeast Asian strain present in the Philippines and that infections occurred in four waves, around 10 March 20 March, the beginning of April, and the middle of April.[72] On 30 May, a second member of Taiwan's diplomatic corps was confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 in Honduras.[73]
By 7 June, Taiwan had not reported local cases for over four incubation periods which is 56 days. As a result, Taiwan began lifting pandemic-related restrictions.[74] Starting 10 June, press briefings held by the Central Epidemic Command Center were scheduled weekly.[75] On 12 June, the Ministry of National Defense disclosed further conclusions regarding the ROCS Panshih cluster, attributing the cluster to substandard health testing. Subsequently, Chen Tao-hui and Kao Chia-pin returned to their posts.[76] The patient involved in the longest hospitalization in Taiwan due to COVID-19 spent 75 days in the hospital and was released in mid-June.[77]
On 24 June, the CECC announced that a Japanese university student who had returned to Japan on 20 June had been diagnosed with COVID-19 by Japanese health authorities.[78][79] Analysis of the student's test results led the CECC to conclude that she was a weak positive, although the agency did not rule out the possibility of infection in Taiwan or the potential for a false positive. The case was not added to Taiwan's total, as the student was not tested in Taiwan.[80][81] The CECC confirmed that the student did not spread COVID-19 to others during her stay in Taiwan.[82][83]
On 2 July, the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association announced that the 2020 William Jones Cup would not be held due to the pandemic. This was the third cancellation since the competition's founding in 1977. The tournament had been previously canceled in 1989 because of a fire in the host venue and again in 2003, during the SARS outbreak.[84]
Taiwan's annual public air raid drill was held on 14 July, albeit with significant changes. The thirty-minute drills typically require citizens to clear the streets and remain indoors until the drill concludes. On the advice of the CECC, however, the Ministry of National Defense did not restrict the movement of citizens to prevent the formation of crowds, especially in public transit stations.[85]
A case of COVID-19 that possibly originated in Taiwan was found by Thai health authorities on 25 July. A Thai migrant worker who had entered Taiwan on 17 January 2018 and returned to Thailand on 21 July 2020 and had not left Taiwan during that time frame tested positive for the virus while in quarantine. The CECC reported it had learned of the positive result on 27 July and immediately ordered workers who shared a company dormitory with the migrant worker to go into quarantine. By 28 July, the CECC identified 189 contacts to be tested for COVID-19. 18 people were placed in quarantine, including one in full hospital isolation due to having symptoms consistent with COVID-19.[86][87][88] The CECC also tested the contacts for COVID-19 antibodies to see if any of them had contracted and recovered from COVID-19 earlier,[89] but reported on 29 July that no positive cases nor antibodies were found.[90]
On 1 August, another possible domestically transmitted case was identified in a Belgian engineer who had worked in Taiwan for two months before his diagnosis. The CECC has identified 89 contacts to quarantine and test for COVID-19.[91] The CECC has not yet classified the case as imported or domestic because it described the test as a "weak positive" and has received test results for COVID-19 antibodies, suggesting the infection may already have passed. It is now testing his contacts to "more accurately" determine if it is more likely he acquired the infection before or after entering Taiwan.[92] On 4 August, it reported it was testing 441 possible contacts for COVID-19 antibodies.[93]
On 19 August, the CECC announced it was closing the investigations of four cases where COVID-19 had possibly been acquired in Taiwan. Two cases were regarded as solved: that of the Belgian engineer and that of a Vietnamese migrant worker. The CECC said the Belgian engineer had likely contracted the virus in Belgium several weeks before he entered Taiwan and had not been contagious during his stay. The Vietnamese migrant worker had likely been infected in a quarantine facility by his roommates shortly after returning to his home country. The other two cases' origins could not be identified, but tracing and testing of all four cases' contacts in Taiwan failed to detect either active COVID-19 infections or antibodies that indicated past and resolved infections. As such, the CECC regarded the cases as closed.[94]
On 9 August, National Taiwan University announced that the preliminary results of a mass-testing study conducted by its College of Public Health in partnership with the government of Changhua County, located on the west coast of central Taiwan, had found COVID-19 antibodies in four target groups that included recovered patients, their close contacts, people who had been in home isolation or quarantine, and healthcare personnel in Changhua.[95] The CECC said the study might indicate that hidden domestic cases have occurred that may be the source of ten cases whose origins are unknown, but if so, they have not caused large community outbreaks. The study has tested 3,000 people out of a target of 10,000, and further results and analysis will be released on 25 August.[96]
However, the study came under fire from the CECC for discussing preliminary results before they had been peer-reviewed, which intensified when the results were delayed to allow them to be reviewed by six experts. Partial results were released on 27 August, which found COVID-19 anti
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