If Taiwan has an outbreak, this will be why:

meishijia · October 30, 2020, 5:24am

Not a citizen.

I did a test in the UK before my flight, but no tests in Taiwan.

Brianjones · October 30, 2020, 5:25am

OK they may trust UK entry more…UK authorities. But I think you should be rapid tested at least here .
Taiwan largely depends on quarantine and tracing more than testing .
It’s worked very well so far.

The SIM congregation hotspot is bad though. Write to the airport authorities…Press ?

meishijia · October 30, 2020, 5:26am

I agree. I keep seeing news about how they have the ability to rapid test, but I guess its not in action yet.

Brianjones · October 30, 2020, 5:27am

They are very reluctant to roll out mass testing. Partly due to false positives and the fact that they haven’t really missed much here through current system.
If they get a positive (likely will be false ) they have to quarantine everybody you came in contact with…Taxi drivers everybody.

So yeah but I still think one follow up test is important.

meishijia · October 30, 2020, 5:28am

If they tested everyone, their cases would be through the roof. There must be hundreds of cases that are not detected but don’t get spread because of quarantine.

Brianjones · October 30, 2020, 5:29am

Maybe tens…Probably not hundreds as many are pretested overseas. Quarantine is the most important not to relax.

Brianjones · October 30, 2020, 5:30am

This is not great .
Also windows should be open a bit.

meishijia · October 30, 2020, 5:31am

I don’t remember if the windows in my taxi were open or not.

RBE · October 30, 2020, 5:32am

Sure it’s going down in the general population but we’re talking about the airport. The workers and passengers are wearing masks and aren’t spending extended periods of time in close contact with each other.

Isn’t that the point of quarantine? They are detecting cases in people who are required to test. Almost all of them have mild symptoms or are completely asymptomatic. And there hasn’t been a single case of one of these people transmitting the virus to someone else in Taiwan.

The system is working. Everybody needs to stay vigilant but testing for the sake of testing won’t do anything.

Leggat · October 30, 2020, 5:58am

nevermind

tommy525 · October 30, 2020, 5:59am

but only after the nightly Prez Trump phone call to your cell of course.

nz · October 30, 2020, 2:13pm

A friend of mine was sent to the airport to transport a Chinese student that was arriving a few weeks back. I guess she started studying at the school this fall and they picked her to go pick up this Chinese student from the airport and transport him to the quarantine hotel and make sure he had all the crap he needed. I told her that sounded like a solid bit of hazing, but I guess she went in a full hazmat suit. My response to her was also “why the fuck are random people being asked to look after anyone coming off a plane from abroad?”. I would expect the government to have official designated people being the only humans that are allowed to come in contact with arrivals until their quarantine is over. And a system in place for getting SIM cards for godssake.

Wee · October 30, 2020, 2:18pm

Allowing anyone without residency rights is ignorant af.

Explant · October 30, 2020, 3:48pm

meishijia:

I entered Taiwan in September, flying from the UK, where I had been stuck for a while. I expected that when I entered Taiwan I would be met by airport staff in full body suits, or for there to be at least some social distancing given that Taiwan has little to no cases, and is actively trying to prevent an outbreak. However, as anyone who has recently entered will know, the only protection staff have from travellers standing thirty centimeters in front of them is a paper surgical mask. I also expected that the designated quarantine taxis would have a transparent panel or something separating the driver from the passenger, but at least in my taxi, there was nothing like that. The worst part of the whole airport experience was when everyone was crowding around the telecom providers to get a SIM card, there was no social distancing at all and I doubt those staff are going into quarantine before heading back into society. Taiwan has done great at controlling COVID-19, better than any other nation, but after seeing how poorly arrivals are handled at international airports I think its just a matter of time before there is an outbreak in a big city like Taoyuan. What do you think?

Sometimes reality gives a very sobering reminder about narratives.

Charlie_Phillips · October 30, 2020, 3:54pm

Are you saying what I think you are saying???

Explant · October 30, 2020, 5:31pm

What do you think i am saying?

Charlie_Phillips · October 30, 2020, 6:05pm

Are you suggesting that the narrative about COVID-19 is different to the reality?

CTaitung · October 30, 2020, 6:26pm

So, like this SOP for the airport and transportation services has been going on for how long?
How many new COVID-19 cases have resulted from what you are worried about? [rhetorical]
Short answer, stop worrying.

QuaSaShao · October 30, 2020, 11:40pm

That medical grade masks work and social distancing is a distant second. Having lived thru the pandemic response here in the only country in the world which kicked COVID to the curb and experiencing the efficacy of erecting a Great Wall of masks firsthand it’s a crying shame that so many still don’t get it. Taiwan is so densely populated social distancing was never a realistic option here. I’ve been shoulder to shoulder with people on packed MRT trains the entire time and could count on the fingers of one hand the number of people I’ve seen not wearing a face mask.

So it goes.

DrinkDaddy2020 · October 31, 2020, 3:37am

I guess this proves that masks work? Despite the number of funnels and crowds in the airport there hasn’t been community transmission tied back to the airport.