As of Oct. 29, Taiwan has recorded 200 days with no locally-transmitted cases, Bloomberg reported.

According to Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the total number of cases stands at 553 as of Oct. 29, while the death toll stands at 7, with 513 cases having recovered from the virus. The last locally-transmitted case was recorded on Apr. 12.

In addition, an economic forecast by Taiwan's government in August gave a growth figure of 1.56 per cent for the island's 2020 gross domestic product.

Still recording imported cases

Taiwan is still recording imported cases however, with the latest imported case having been recorded on Oct. 28, according to the CDC.

The same day also saw the CDC put out a notice urging the Taiwanese public to continue practicing hand hygiene, wearing masks and proper coughing etiquette in light of the rising cases worldwide.

The Associated Press (AP) further reported that there are also questions over whether Taiwan is truly free of the virus given that three people who recently left the island tested positive for Covid-19 in Thailand and Japan.

Taiwan is still considered a success given that globally, over 44 million cases and 1.1 million deaths have been recorded.

Why is Taiwan so successful?

According to Bloomberg, Taiwan's success is largely due to the following three factors:

• A border control policy consisting of symptom-based surveillance for travellers, and digital tracking to ensure people are adhering to their 14-day quarantine,
• Contact tracing and the daily production of roughly 20 million masks per day which ensures an adequate supply for Taiwanese residents, and
• The experience of SARS in 2003, which has imbued the importance of washing hands and wearing masks in residents.

AP also highlighted an early response as another factor, with officials checking travellers from Wuhan for symptoms of pneumonia and fever as far back as Dec. 31, 2019, the inauguration of the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) to coordinate the government's response on Jan. 20, and the suspension of flights from Wuhan on Jan. 23.

Effective communication was also cited as another factor in stressing the importance of wearing masks, and curbing panic-buying and price-gouging.

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Top image from Tsai Ing-Wen Facebook