Potential lessons from the Taiwan and New Zealand health responses to the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Approaches to preventing or mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic have varied markedly between nations. We examined the approach up to August 2020 taken by two jurisdictions which had successfully eliminated COVID-19 by this time: Taiwan and New Zealand. Taiwan reported a lower COVID-19 incidence rate (20.7 cases per million) compared with NZ (278.0 per million). Extensive public health infrastructure established in Taiwan pre-COVID-19 enabled a fast coordinated response, particularly in the domains of early screening, effective methods for isolation/quarantine, digital technologies for identifying potential cases and mass mask use. This timely and vigorous response allowed Taiwan to avoid the national lockdown used by New Zealand. Many of Taiwan's pandemic control components could potentially be adopted by other jurisdictions.

Keywords: COVID-19; Epidemiology; Global health; Health policy; Infectious diseases; Public health.

Fig. 1

Epidemic curve of weekly newly notified confirmed cases and cumulative total confirmed COVID-19 cases in Taiwan* and New Zealand** up to August 2020 *Taiwan confirmed cases based on date of notification as reported 31 August 2020 . **New Zealand confirmed cases based on date notified as potential cases, as reported 31 August 2020 . Further probable cases in New Zealand total n=351 (not included in total above) as of 31 August 2020. A probable case is defined as ‘one without a positive laboratory result, but which is treated like a confirmed case based on its exposure history and clinical symptoms’.