Just talked to someone from Taiwan

[Auntlouisa]

It's so frustrating. Taiwan has a population of 24 million. They've had 7 deaths. All schools and workplaces are operating as normal. They've been told to be careful, but that's it. Their government acted quickly and efficiently and everyone's been wearing face masks from the outset. Their economy will presumably be largely unaffected.
Why do we put up with the leadership we've had on this?

@Zaphodsotherhead the quicker people stop the virus spreading by any means then the quicker people will stop needing to wear face masks.

My family and friends are in South Korea. They have a population of 51M and only 263 deaths so far. I see my Instagram feed full of friends in Seoul carrying on their normal life - eating out at restaurants, going camping, going to work etc., WEARING FACE MASKS.

Like Hong Kong, South Korea test all passengers arriving from overseas.

Test. Trace. Isolate. It’s so simple but it works.

It boils down to the fact that SARS didn’t really affect us or our economy so obviously our government reacted differently.

The big difference between Taiwan and the rest of the world is that they did not believe a word the Chinese government were saying (because of SARS). They started acting in January in changes and regulations that would have been resisted elsewhere.

Maybe our response will be different next time because now we have been burned.

They are so experienced in dealing with this after SARS. Our failing was not to learn from them and act promptly. The testing, tracing and isolating is key. We gave up on that very early.

You do all that and you don’t have to lockdown!

Because we are somehow different from every other place on earth that have found ways to control this virus. And why would we want to emulate them when we are doing so marvellously well?

Contact tracing, face masks and quarantining people entering the country are things that only work for foreigners apparently.

Yes, our British exceptionalism at its best. We couldn’t possibly learn anything from countries who have dealt with this successfully in the past.

Though the WHO have a lot to answer for with their crap advice. Which many of the countries who have dealt with this successfully ignored....

Actually I shouldn’t say British as I appreciate it’s just England really and other countries in the British Isles have had their own approach.

Yes, it's such a disaster. So proud of Taiwan, HK, Vietnam, sth Korea - despite being neighbours to china. Within the UK, if you take just the England figures we are edging close to the worst death rate in the world per population size

it is my human right to infect as many people as possible and if I kill a few on the way well they will all be OAPs and vulnerable anyway.

Yes - and they all would have died this year regardless. (I look forward to seeing the lower than average death figures for the remainder of 2020!)

Because we are somehow different from every other place on earth that have found ways to control this virus. And why would we want to emulate them when we are doing so marvellously well?

Yes - don't get me started on, "It's too soon to judge who's handled this well." It might be early days, but we're hardly to going to go from one of the worst outcomes to one of the best, are we?

Because we are special and are following the science, didn’t you know?

Completely agree about British exceptionalism. To hear some posters here you think this was a quintessentially British problem, not a global pandemic.

Unlike here where you can drive from Heathrow to the Isle of Skye without anyone noticing.

It's called 'freedom'. Something we have and they don't.

Great piece in the FT:

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.ft.com/content/32b7fc68-952f-11ea-abcd-371e24b679ed

The Sars-Cov-2 virus has no respect for national character. The planned commemorations of the victory’s 75th anniversary fell victim to the tyranny of coronavirus. The flypasts of Spitfire and Hurricane fighter planes went ahead on May 8, the Queen spoke to the nation, and a few hardy souls hosted socially-distanced street parties. But the spirit was lost to the collision between comforting nostalgia and a pathogen.

There are many explanations for the delayed and initially weak government reaction that has seen Britain fare relatively badly in the fight against the virus. Some relate to resources, some to poor management and some to the mis-steps inevitable in the response to such an extraordinary threat. But at the heart of the failure was the yawning gulf between exceptionalism and the relentless focus and organisation needed to stamp out coronavirus

it is my human right to infect as many people as possible and if I kill a few on the way well they will all be OAPs and vulnerable anyway.

And it's their own fault as they should have stayed at home.

@Jaxhog It's called 'freedom'. Something we have and they don't.

Huh?? Have you even been to Taiwan (or HK or SK)? They are democratic countries like the UK. Some Brits who has only been as far as Europe think all Asian countries are like North Korea

Except that Hong Kong isn't a country but is part of China...

My brother lives in HK. Their lives are pretty much back to normal now. They've had masks from the outset and the social pressure to wear one in public is huge.

They are opening up the border to mainland China soon (although the school kids have been going back and forth already) so it will be interesting to see if there is any surge. Hopefully not.

Sorry which ‘masks’ are these?

Bits of old material with elastic,home made....or?

Not home made, no. This is my DB wearing his.

Also, every case is logged onto their tracking system giving the general public the option to avoid the building/area. You can view it here if you're interested.

chp-dashboard.geodata.gov.hk/covid-19/en.html

Hong Kong & Singapore have both had rolling Lockdown measures.

Taiwan checks temperatures all over the place & you can't work if you are feverish & don't test clear. Their population is 11 million & they quarantine everyone who arrives in country for 2 weeks (expensive enforcement). There are limits on sizes of gatherings so things like professional sport can't proceed with fans present.

ah fair enough, I got Taiwan popn wrong -- is 24mln.

My brother lives in Taiwan and says his life is just as normal with the addition of constant mask wearing, instead of occasional for pollution, and temp checks everywhere. I'm envious.

He and I discussed things at the start and agreed that the US and UK would suffer much more than Taiwan because they would never accept the "loss of freedoms" that the Taiwanese do. In the end, I've lost a whole lot more freedom in the UK than my brother in Taiwan.