The “Taiwan model” for combating COVID-19 is a roadmap for the world, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Brent Christensen said yesterday at the start of the Coronavirus Hackathon.
Christensen, speaking at the Executive Yuan, where officials were announcing the start of the hackathon — a public event sponsored by the AIT and the government to find ways to fight against the pandemic — said that the “Taiwan model” could be summarized in five Ts: transparency, transportation controls, tracking, testing and technology.
Taiwan has ensured transparency when sharing information about its approach to preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus and policies with the public — and the WHO, despite it unfairly excluding the nation, he said.
Photo: CNA
The nation’s authorities were among the first to begin screening flights, mandating quarantines for people arriving from high-risk areas, organizing safe transportation and monitoring people in quarantine, he added.
The authorities have meticulously tracked individuals who had a high risk of exposure to COVID-19 and enforced a targeted testing protocol based on rigorous contact tracing, Christensen said.
The model has used numerous technologies, such as tracing the movements of a confirmed case — using data from cell phone towers and then broadcasting messages to other mobile phones that were at the same places at that time — and using data analysis when implementing mask rationing, he said.
“Taiwan’s response to COVID-19 has been more successful than any in the world, according to nearly all available metrics,” and despite its proximity to China, he said.
The hackathon is designed to build on these successes to devise transportation-related innovations to ensure an optimal transition leading up to the listing of travel restrictions, as well as to protect essential workers and people who lack the means to access vital services, he said.
Officials hopes to learn from the hackathon how to use artificial intelligence and big data to develop predictive tools to track the virus much in the same way weather is forecast, providing policymakers and the public the information they need to respond and stay ahead of the curve to prevent COVID-19 from getting out of control, Christensen said.
The hackathon is intended to gather input about how to use these technologies to manage health resources across jurisdictions to ensure that front-line healthcare personnel are properly protected and that people are informed of pandemic risks while maintaining democratic values to hopefully elicit voluntary cooperation with the government’s disease prevention policies, he said.
He hopes that the hackathon would be another example of the fresh thinking that is only found in Taiwan, combining innovative technologies with a commitment to social good, he added.
Taiwan, as a member of the global community, hopes to engage with other nations to research vaccines, provide medical supplies and use technology to fight COVID-19, Vice Premier Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said.
The US is a world leader in pharmaceuticals and vaccine research and development, which coupled with Taiwan’s strengths in universal health insurance, and information and communication technologies, would help the world defeat COVID-19, he said.
The AIT and the Executive Yuan are seeking the public’s responses to questions about COVID-19 starting on May 5.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
RSS