Dec. 31: Wuhan health officials confirm 27 cases of illness and close a market they think is related to the virus' spread. China tells the World Health Organization’s China office about the cases of an unknown illness.
Jan. 19: Beijing sends epidemiologists to Wuhan.
As soon as Taiwan learned of what was going on December 31, it took action, starting screening of airline passengers from Wuhan on the aircraft before people deplaned. This is while the Chinese government was ignorant of the problem, local officials were covering up the outbreak, and World Health Organization officials at China's behest continued to block Taiwan from joining WHO (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/13/how-taiwan-is-...).
Even though Taiwan had direct flights to Wuhan and was the last stop of the Diamond Princess cruise ship before it was quarantined in Japan, it had only a few dozen cases by the end of February. The government and people of Taiwan learned a lot from SARS (https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2020/3/10/21171722/taiwan...), and their response should be seen as a model for the rest of the world.
Jan. 19: Beijing sends epidemiologists to Wuhan.
As soon as Taiwan learned of what was going on December 31, it took action, starting screening of airline passengers from Wuhan on the aircraft before people deplaned. This is while the Chinese government was ignorant of the problem, local officials were covering up the outbreak, and World Health Organization officials at China's behest continued to block Taiwan from joining WHO (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/13/how-taiwan-is-...).
Even though Taiwan had direct flights to Wuhan and was the last stop of the Diamond Princess cruise ship before it was quarantined in Japan, it had only a few dozen cases by the end of February. The government and people of Taiwan learned a lot from SARS (https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2020/3/10/21171722/taiwan...), and their response should be seen as a model for the rest of the world.