In a video conference held on Wednesday morning (May 6), Taiwan shared its approach to tackling the coronavirus (COVID-19) with officials from local governments in the U.S. and Canada as well as medical representatives.
The two-hour meeting included Taiwan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉), Taiwan Adventist Hospital President Huang Hui-ting (黃暉庭) and his team, and the governors of both Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, Lourdes A. Leon Guerrero and Ralph DLG. Torres, respectively. Government officials and medical experts from California, Washington, D.C., Hawaii, and the Canadian city of Toronto also attended the event.
Taiwan’s medical team shared the country’s coronavirus response, which has generally been seen as successful. The deputy minister remarked that six factors have characterized the so-called “Taiwan model,” including quick responses, proactive precautions, centralized command, and cross-ministerial efforts.
The rationing of masks and alcohol, which can be turned into sanitizers, has also been key to the government’s fight against the coronavirus. In addition, Hsu noted that the medical experts from the Centers for Disease Control have been carrying out meticulous tasks to track each confirmed case and their contacts.
Taiwan has been working closely with the U.S. as the coronavirus, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, swept the entire world starting February, forcing approximately one billion people globally to be placed under home quarantine. The island nation’s air force was invited to a video conference hosted by U.S. Pacific Air Force (PACAF) Commander Charles Q. Brown Jr. on Wednesday (April 29) to discuss with 19 countries approaches to combating the virus.
The US remains the epicenter of the coronavirus, with more than 1.2 million people infected and over 70,000 dead from the disease, according to John Hopkins University data. MOFA said Taiwan would continue to offer its support to U.S. and Canadian local governments to step up their disease control measures and looks forward to fostering more collaborations with nations around the world.
Source：Taiwan News
