I swore that if I saw another post on social media about COVID-19 virus I would scream, but then some family members and family friends made some calls and some sent messages to see how my family and I were doing.

I reassured them that everything was under control and we were operating in a controlled chaos of sorts. Then the news hit, the virus had made its way to the Americas (North, Central and South). In the U.S.A and Belize, where I’m from there was the clearing out of shelves of food, toilet paper, hand sanitizer and cleaning products.

I kept getting pictures of empty shelves and prices of alcohol hiked up to 600%. This was allowed to happen.

I wondered, “Why was it so hard for the rest of the world to do what Taiwan did?”

There was an entire month of watching us handle this and it boiled down to this! So here is a play by play of how it happened from my point of view as a foreigner living here in Taiwan. I may have missed some things but this is just from my neck of the woods.

Also, I’m not sure what happened at the airport but I am assuming it was strict as well. As of today March 15, 2020. There have been 53 confirmed cases and one death in a population of 23 million people. Considering our proximity to China, prognosis was grim but we are handling it really well and I am grateful for that.

January 20th-31st: School was closed for Chinese New Year and winter vacation. There were rumblings that there was a respiratory infection happening in China and we were advised to be cautious. We were advised not to travel to specific places and stay away from crowded areas and stay home if we were feeling ill.

Many persons that lived in Taiwan but were in China returned. Schools and work places sent out surveys for us to account for travel history. We were not allowed to return to school or work until we had remained home for 14 days if we had travelled.

Winter sessions in the elementary school and kindergarten were cancelled. We were allowed certain days to purchase masks depending on the last number of our official ID card. Odd numbers on specific days and even numbers on the other days and everyone on Sundays. This was because the initial panic cause alcohol and masks to disappear off the shelves and this, was not an acceptable way to handle a potential pandemic.

The Government the restricted export on all the masks in order to have them available for the residents. Only enough masks for 50 customers were made available for purchase every day. A patient that had contracted the corona virus and lied on their travel history survey was fined USD $334 for “hiding their illness“.

The precedent had been set. Fill in the surveys, don’t lie and don’t buy everything off the shelves. Now, the Government can work to contain the disease instead of using up energy and resources to keep delinquents under control. In a country of 24 million people there were no risks to be taken. People first!

February 1st– February 14th: We were made to fill in another survey on our travel history and were offered two weeks’ worth of masks. The security guard was placed at the front door of every building to take our temperature whenever we entered any building on campus.

All other entrances were locked. One door in and one door out. We were made to spray our hands with 70% alcohol when entering and leaving a building. School was suspended until the end of February for some and beginning of March for college. “Disease Prevention Leave” became a thing and parents with school aged children were allowed to stay with them without fear of losing their job; this was an unpaid leave.

The school psychologist sent out a mass email about taking care of our mental health during scary times such as these and offered her services. This has always been free and confidential. Masks were being rationed three per week for adults and five per week for children; but only 50 sets were available at each pharmacy.

A real-time APP was created so we could know what stores had masks and how many. A new machine for making masks was being tested but was not online yet. Government requested that the distillery make alcohol for sanitizing rather than drinking and only 10 bottles were available per day at every convenience store; one per party. There are plenty of convenience stores around so just divide and conquer.

February 15th-February 28th: There was no mass panic for buying large amounts of food because I believe that this behavior causes Government regulation and rationing laws being applied on that item. So everybody behaved themselves accordingly.

We received a list of countries where there were active travel bans and this was continued week after week. We were also required to fill in two more surveys about travel history and any physical discomfort and school re-opened. Parents were required to wear masks take temperature, spray hands with 70% alcohol and show name tags before entering the campus and we could only stay long enough to see the children to the classroom.

We were then asked to leave. Children had their temperature checked and were given a symptom tracker to fill in morning and night at home and this was looked at every day at school. All parent-child activities were cancelled for the semester.

Government now allowed 200 customers per day at pharmacies to purchase masks. These buyers were to queue outside at 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. and were not to enter the store until it was time to purchase masks. This was to keep with the crowd control measures, maintain order and keep the store clear from people buying other things.

Number tickets were handed out up to 200; the rest of folks were turned away. If you had ID cards for three people in your household, you got three numbers. The new mask machine being tested was approved to be used for making masks for the public. This would be used for making masks that could be ordered online still based on the rationing system.

Your health insurance number must be entered in order to make a purchase and you were still limited to three per week per adults and now, five per week per child. The ban on export of masks was still in effect and masks were confiscated if you were trying to leave the country with more than 250 per person. Some people learned the hard way, but these masks were put in circulation for the country’s use. Body scanners were installed at the train stations and underground rails to check body temperature if one measured 37.5°C they are asked to see a doctor at the earliest convenience.

Anything higher than that and these passengers were not allowed to enter the train station or the underground rail concourse. Academia Sinica developed an antigen in 10 days against the COVID-19 virus. Good for them, bad for sleep.

March 1st – March 15th 2020: Parents could no longer go onto the campus to drop off or pick up the Kindergarteners. They were collected in small groups at the auditorium and got their temperature taken. The children were to be dropped off and picked up according to a specific time window in the morning and evening to avoid overcrowding at the gate.

Since this is a school zone in Taiwan, there are no car zone areas, the children must be physically picked up at the school by a person on the pick-up-drop-off list. Children can’t just run up to cars and jump in! Parents waiting at the gate must have had their temperature taken, and be wearing a mask and had sprayed their hands with 70% alcohol to just even stand at the gate to collect their child. If it’s not that child’s time window to be picked up parents were not allowed to stand at the gate. Period! Yes, it’s your child but it’s everyone’s safety!

We were made to do another travel history survey and the weekly travel restriction guide was updated and sent around again. Masks were there per week per adults and five for children. The ban on export has been relaxed and only cloth masks were allowed to be exported but not the filtered mesh ones.

Overall I feel safe. I am taking precautions but I am not worried that I’ll get to the store and all the food will be gone. I wear my mask when I’m asked to and comply with all the requirements for entering and leaving buildings and picking up and dropping off my Kindergartener.

From my observation, compliance is key. The citizens follow the rules and regulations or we could suffer the consequence of having the item rationed. Yes, it is super strict but it is for the protection of the people and everyone feels safe and we are all treated the same; foreigner and citizens alike.

Selfishness in the guise of self-preservation is understandable in times like these and it’s not that the people of Taiwan aren’t like this, we are all humans that want to survive, but the Government simply does not allow the price of masks, alcohol or food to be increased in a time like this.

That behavior might definitely buy you some “time-out”. Sure there are the rouges that take advantage and get away with it, but not nearly as I have witnessed in the West. Established rules and regulations offer support and a feeling of protections and builds trust. That way whatever the Government requests we are willing to comply, it was a firm but gentle approach with regulatory instruments for all if a few did not comply.

I don’t disagree with this measure as the mano duro approach has saved us thus far.

我爱台湾。

Take care, all of you. I wish you well and be kind to one another.