It's very worrisome to hear Taiwan has had a leak. Here in the United States, for the few paying attention, Taiwan is an exemplar of proper government response to Covid. One thing, though. You wrote, "Like in previous breaches that were successfully contained, airline crews was the chink in Taiwan’s COVID armor." I'm a newspaperman and I would never use the word "chink" in a story that included Asians. Are Taiwanese nor aware of the associations with that word? Also, you have a subject-verb error in the "chink" sentence.
This round is spreading at America speed. Local lockdowns will do nothing. There needs to be a national lockdown.
With an out of control outbreak of COVID, after a near perfect record, and no water and soon, no electricity...Taiwan is facing the trifecta of misery. A summer of hell awaits us. There seems to be no forethought to anything. People fell victim to being irrationally scared of nuclear power and too much reliance on coal/gas and hydro. About the hydro, no water means no running water for hydro. Maybe they should fast-track some desal plants and stop waiting for the randomness of nature to save us. Say we get 10 plants online then the rains and typhoons come. Great. We have back up.
It is easy to look at the West and see how badly they reacted to the pandemic. Well, the same lax snake that strangled them, has just bitten Taiwan in the butt.
Sad the equanimity has come to a close here in Taiwan. Still, thanks for epidemiological sleuthing and Angelica~style narrative. Always enjoyable to read your prose.
Thanks for writing this. I live here in Taiwan as well, and it is difficult to watch friends, family, and co-workers go through what the rest of the world dealt with a year ago. People are worried, even scared, but everyone is taking precautions that will hopefully slow the spread enough to manage it so more vaccination doses can be imported. Mask up, and stay safe.
This was a really informative article and helps put together all the little bits of news I have been following over the last 6 weeks leading up to now, especially the Novotel part. I have no issue with your headline, but "How Taiwan's Covid-19 Bubble Popped" could also work. Chink in the armor is a very common phrase which I have no issue with. Achilles heal could work to appease those that are sensitive to that. Anyway you have a new subscriber in me, and I look forward to more of your excellent work. Kudos!
Great summary. A-gong tea is the COVID accelerator. Love the comment about vitality of old folks. A few months ago I was walking through Da’an Forest Park, and I heard the rhythmic sounds of dozens of old people exercising, clapping their hands, and hitting their legs for massage... like some kind of flash mob performance. Sometimes when I go to work early or am out wayyy late, I also see seniors on the way to whatever important activities are going on. And then every government office seems to have a little army of volunteer old ladies.
Nice piece, Angelica, I'm now subscribed and looking forward to more, but your headline, while dramatic, confuses me. Where IS the finish line, if it's in sight? What does it look like? 多謝， Robert
Angelica, you’re right on the money with your insightful article. This has been predicable for 2 months, and yet still allowed to happen, almost in slow motion, and in full view. Utterly preventable. Where’s the accountability?
I just left New York City last Thursday and landed in Taipei approx. 48 hours ago. Currently in my mandatory quarantine lamenting how good I am at choosing a time to travel. Welp.
I am inclined to think our worst case scenario is South Korea, and best case scenario is like what that snotty tweet floated around on Taiwan twitter said, we exterminate it within two weeks.
Hey, Angelica. Thank you for writing about Taiwan’s latest surge of COVID-19 infections. It is so shocking to hear that even Taiwan, that has been largely untouched by a global pandemic, can still blow it. A testament to complacency and the super-spreading potential of this coronavirus.
I live in Melbourne, so it was no surprise Taiwan’s current outbreak was caused by hotel quarantine leaks.🙄 But mixing tourists in quarantine hotels?! WTF 🤬
Anyway, we Melburnians endured 111 consecutive days of limited reasons to leave our homes.
I don’t know how bad this will become, but I’d like to share some of my advice:
-Stay the hell away from “COVID truthers” and disinformation!
-Listen to trusted, reliable sources.
-Pay attention to lists of exposure sites all around Taiwan. If you’ve visited one and feel any symptoms, please book a test.
-Listen to the data, ignore sensationalist media.
-COVID is airborne, so take airborne precautions against COVID-19.
-Go out for exercise or just for walks.
-Please just stay home.
-Whilst at home, find a hobby that you’ve always wanted to take up.
-Work on your health and well-being.
-Find others activities to help pass the time.
-Still keep in touch with your close friends. Make sure they’re okay.
-Share this advice with everyone you know in Taiwan. It got me and many others through our second wave, I hope it can help you guys now.
are you going to keep this blog going or is that "not a substack post" threat still hanging over us like some mirthful perspicacious urban sprite whose centennial goals must be satisfied?
Taiwan Pilots were required to do 3 days at home quarantine until January because one pilot caught covid at the end of December. They went almost a whole year not catching or spreading it with just three days at home, so saying they decided to relax quarantine rules is incorrect. They now require a negative swab before leaving quarantine and they didn’t even offer that prior to January.
Also saying that pilots and tourists are mingling at the buffet is crazy. Pilots on quarantine cannot leave their rooms. The hotel housed fedex and/or United pilot who are not used to quarantine procedures, however, so although they’re told not to leave the room, it may not have been fully enforced.
It's very worrisome to hear Taiwan has had a leak. Here in the United States, for the few paying attention, Taiwan is an exemplar of proper government response to Covid. One thing, though. You wrote, "Like in previous breaches that were successfully contained, airline crews was the chink in Taiwan’s COVID armor." I'm a newspaperman and I would never use the word "chink" in a story that included Asians. Are Taiwanese nor aware of the associations with that word? Also, you have a subject-verb error in the "chink" sentence.
This round is spreading at America speed. Local lockdowns will do nothing. There needs to be a national lockdown.
With an out of control outbreak of COVID, after a near perfect record, and no water and soon, no electricity...Taiwan is facing the trifecta of misery. A summer of hell awaits us. There seems to be no forethought to anything. People fell victim to being irrationally scared of nuclear power and too much reliance on coal/gas and hydro. About the hydro, no water means no running water for hydro. Maybe they should fast-track some desal plants and stop waiting for the randomness of nature to save us. Say we get 10 plants online then the rains and typhoons come. Great. We have back up.
It is easy to look at the West and see how badly they reacted to the pandemic. Well, the same lax snake that strangled them, has just bitten Taiwan in the butt.
Sad the equanimity has come to a close here in Taiwan. Still, thanks for epidemiological sleuthing and Angelica~style narrative. Always enjoyable to read your prose.
Thanks for writing this. I live here in Taiwan as well, and it is difficult to watch friends, family, and co-workers go through what the rest of the world dealt with a year ago. People are worried, even scared, but everyone is taking precautions that will hopefully slow the spread enough to manage it so more vaccination doses can be imported. Mask up, and stay safe.
This was a really informative article and helps put together all the little bits of news I have been following over the last 6 weeks leading up to now, especially the Novotel part. I have no issue with your headline, but "How Taiwan's Covid-19 Bubble Popped" could also work. Chink in the armor is a very common phrase which I have no issue with. Achilles heal could work to appease those that are sensitive to that. Anyway you have a new subscriber in me, and I look forward to more of your excellent work. Kudos!
But how did it jump from Novotel to Lion's Club? Did I miss something?
I think Taiwan is still safe than California (even when you account for population) and we have a high vaccination rate compared to Taiwan:
COVID-19 updates: Nearly 2,000 new cases in CA, 7-day positivity rate is 1.1% (5/15/21)
https://abc7news.com/10640057
New cases: 1,864
Total: 3,663,539
Deaths: 27
Total: 61,444
7-Day Positivity Rate: 1.1%
1,428 Hospitalized
346 in ICU
Vaccinations: 15,362,144 Fully Vaccinated (48.3%)
4,837,852 Partially vaccinated
246,391 average doses administered per day
32 Days of inventory on hand
Your opinion of infected crew mingling with tourists is flawed. The crew did not leave their room.
Great summary. A-gong tea is the COVID accelerator. Love the comment about vitality of old folks. A few months ago I was walking through Da’an Forest Park, and I heard the rhythmic sounds of dozens of old people exercising, clapping their hands, and hitting their legs for massage... like some kind of flash mob performance. Sometimes when I go to work early or am out wayyy late, I also see seniors on the way to whatever important activities are going on. And then every government office seems to have a little army of volunteer old ladies.
Nice piece, Angelica, I'm now subscribed and looking forward to more, but your headline, while dramatic, confuses me. Where IS the finish line, if it's in sight? What does it look like? 多謝， Robert
Angelica, you’re right on the money with your insightful article. This has been predicable for 2 months, and yet still allowed to happen, almost in slow motion, and in full view. Utterly preventable. Where’s the accountability?
I just left New York City last Thursday and landed in Taipei approx. 48 hours ago. Currently in my mandatory quarantine lamenting how good I am at choosing a time to travel. Welp.
I am inclined to think our worst case scenario is South Korea, and best case scenario is like what that snotty tweet floated around on Taiwan twitter said, we exterminate it within two weeks.
Hey, Angelica. Thank you for writing about Taiwan’s latest surge of COVID-19 infections. It is so shocking to hear that even Taiwan, that has been largely untouched by a global pandemic, can still blow it. A testament to complacency and the super-spreading potential of this coronavirus.
I live in Melbourne, so it was no surprise Taiwan’s current outbreak was caused by hotel quarantine leaks.🙄 But mixing tourists in quarantine hotels?! WTF 🤬
Anyway, we Melburnians endured 111 consecutive days of limited reasons to leave our homes.
I don’t know how bad this will become, but I’d like to share some of my advice:
-Stay the hell away from “COVID truthers” and disinformation!
-Listen to trusted, reliable sources.
-Pay attention to lists of exposure sites all around Taiwan. If you’ve visited one and feel any symptoms, please book a test.
-Listen to the data, ignore sensationalist media.
-COVID is airborne, so take airborne precautions against COVID-19.
-Go out for exercise or just for walks.
-Please just stay home.
-Whilst at home, find a hobby that you’ve always wanted to take up.
-Work on your health and well-being.
-Find others activities to help pass the time.
-Still keep in touch with your close friends. Make sure they’re okay.
-Share this advice with everyone you know in Taiwan. It got me and many others through our second wave, I hope it can help you guys now.
Wishing you all well from Australia! 👍
are you going to keep this blog going or is that "not a substack post" threat still hanging over us like some mirthful perspicacious urban sprite whose centennial goals must be satisfied?
5.05 doses of Moderna are hopefully coming. https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/202105150007
Taiwan Pilots were required to do 3 days at home quarantine until January because one pilot caught covid at the end of December. They went almost a whole year not catching or spreading it with just three days at home, so saying they decided to relax quarantine rules is incorrect. They now require a negative swab before leaving quarantine and they didn’t even offer that prior to January.
Also saying that pilots and tourists are mingling at the buffet is crazy. Pilots on quarantine cannot leave their rooms. The hotel housed fedex and/or United pilot who are not used to quarantine procedures, however, so although they’re told not to leave the room, it may not have been fully enforced.