I finally bought a face mask. Nobody cared once I started wearing the mask. It's not the kind being rationed and people are lining up for out the doors of national health-affiliated pharmacies when "apps" tell them they're available. Not surgical nor "PPE", but the kind that folk all around Asia wore regularly pre-CCP virus because of pollution that are sold at any convenience store. I figured those all would have been bought up so I didn't even look, but I started spotting them and figured better than nothing and bought one.
Good timing, too, as the government just announced that face masks are now required on all public transportation. It was a bit of a surprise announcement because Taiwan is still not that bad off. As of April 1, face masks were required on the High Speed Rail and the TRA national rail system, but originally the government was considering requiring face masks on all Taipei buses and the MRT on April 9 when it was forecast that Taiwan's supply of face masks would allow for people to buy 9 masks every 14 days.
Good timing, too, as the government just announced that face masks are now required on all public transportation. It was a bit of a surprise announcement because Taiwan is still not that bad off. As of April 1, face masks were required on the High Speed Rail and the TRA national rail system, but originally the government was considering requiring face masks on all Taipei buses and the MRT on April 9 when it was forecast that Taiwan's supply of face masks would allow for people to buy 9 masks every 14 days.
I'm not sure why they suddenly decided to require face masks on public transpo and pushing "social distancing" more aggressively, but it's not a bad idea. On one hand, I don't think it's necessarily necessary. Our numbers don't really require it. All cases are still being traced and monitored and most are imported cases that are being discovered in quarantine. New domestic cases have mostly been able to be traced to contact with previously identified cases, so the threat of community spread is still low, albeit as present as anywhere in the world.
On the other hand I think it's a good idea just to keep people from getting complacent about Taiwan's success in slowing the spread. I've felt that going out in the past week. We have it under control, the danger is very low, I don't need to worry about it. But measures like this might be a reasonable, psychological way of keeping people vigilant that there's always a danger. I heard that South Korea also had the CCP virus contained early on, but then it took a single person, "patient 31", who belonged to a Christian cult that ignored the threat and precautions and sparked a spread that went out of control and infected thousands. No one can say that can't happen in Taiwan if we let our guard down, not just the government but the people.
Some western reporting on Taiwan's response (slightly outdated in terms of numbers, currently we have 355 cases, 5 deaths and 50 recovered and discharged):
On the other hand I think it's a good idea just to keep people from getting complacent about Taiwan's success in slowing the spread. I've felt that going out in the past week. We have it under control, the danger is very low, I don't need to worry about it. But measures like this might be a reasonable, psychological way of keeping people vigilant that there's always a danger. I heard that South Korea also had the CCP virus contained early on, but then it took a single person, "patient 31", who belonged to a Christian cult that ignored the threat and precautions and sparked a spread that went out of control and infected thousands. No one can say that can't happen in Taiwan if we let our guard down, not just the government but the people.
Some western reporting on Taiwan's response (slightly outdated in terms of numbers, currently we have 355 cases, 5 deaths and 50 recovered and discharged):
There was also one by the BBC, but no one trusts the BBC (I meant that as a joke based on the satire Broadway show The Producers, but then).
My primary news sources are China in Focus and the far more snarkier and sarcastic China Uncensored. I've been trying to watch NBC Nightly News, but I've found their worldview to be annoyingly micro and emotional, and if that's the kind of news Americans are getting, it's woefully insulated and deflecting from the larger, global view. Yes, stories about the front-line medical health care workers is worthy, but . . . after a while I just find myself forward arrow skipping through most of it. And I'm already streaming at 1.75x speed to save time.
My primary news sources are China in Focus and the far more snarkier and sarcastic China Uncensored. I've been trying to watch NBC Nightly News, but I've found their worldview to be annoyingly micro and emotional, and if that's the kind of news Americans are getting, it's woefully insulated and deflecting from the larger, global view. Yes, stories about the front-line medical health care workers is worthy, but . . . after a while I just find myself forward arrow skipping through most of it. And I'm already streaming at 1.75x speed to save time.
