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.
But what would be a better word? Gap in the armor? It just doesn’t seem as apropos. As I am Asian-American myself, it doesn’t make any sense for me to be using Chink in an insulting manner. I will update the subject/verb agreement.
"Flaw" would work. Or "... penetrated Taiwan's Covid armor." My point wasn't to illustrate how unprejudiced I am, but to wonder whether "chink" has as strong a negative connotation in Taiwan as it does in the U.S. And maybe it's just me. Maybe it doesn't negatively resonate in the U.S. as it once did. Anyway. I'm a copy editor and a newspaper columnist so I'm hypervigilant about word choices. Keep up the good work. I'll be interested in reading your posts. Peace.
“Flaw (or weakness) in COVID prevention measures” feels most correct to me. A set of health policies do not really act in a way similar to how armor protects one person.
You are too caught up in American parochial virtue-signaling culture and politically -correct-speak. “Chink in armor” only offends progressive white privileged Americans.
Wrong. I was interested in whether the word had the same derogatory connotation in Taiwan as it does in the U.S. You saw what you wanted to see in order to have an opinion that virtue-signals to white Americans that you're a moron. No offense.
I grew up in Taiwan learning English by watching tons of Hollywood tv shows and movies, so I knew it’s a derogatory word to use by anyone in any circumstances, especially now racial profiling and stop Asian hate are taken seriously, in addition to the fact that I never heard of the ch*** and armor” expression until reading this article today. I was baffled... is this like that African Americans can call themselves whatever they want but it doesn’t apply to the rest? I can’t speak for the entire population of Taiwan but certainly was surprised to read the sentence. I am simply curious and would like to learn how it affects the public’s views. I believe and agree that word choice is really important when you speak and write. So, when you, as a newspaper person/editor, write articles with that kind of caution or conscience then get called white privileged American, how is that right?
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!
Hi Lynn, we can say they are the same varient, but I think the thread has been lost. There’s also this pilot and flight attendant from China airlines who went off to a sports bar after their three day quarantine despite supposing to be under health monitoring. When a cluster gets beyond a certain size contact tracing becomes hopeless.
I have no doubt, John. So much safer. But we ARE looking at possible exponential spread. This will be an interesting test case of if uncontained community spread CAN be pushed down without a hard lockdown.
A lockdown would be good, even if for a few days for CDC to do more tracing & advise businesses on the appropriate preventive methods. At the moment, businesses (incl. shops) are a bit lost e.g., no physical distancing, no limitations to customer in shops, everyone gathering around trying to scan the QR Codes…
Mr. Waldron, you are, sadly, correct about ventilation systems. In addition, even systems that comply with strict protocols will fail if not properly maintained. Ignore the Coates comment, your position can be easily verified.
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.
They have very specific exercises. Sometimes they throw themselves against trees. I don’t really understand the ways of the Ah-Gongs, but they certainly seem very healthy!
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
I consider the finish line everybody on the island vaccinated. I think maybe September would be a good date to hope for. That’s a loooooooong time to cope with community spread.
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?
The moment where they really should have cracked down HARD on pilots was when that EVA airline pilot from New Zealand went AWOL while positive, IMHO. 3 day quarantine followed by 7 days “self monitoring”? That’s just ten days! For a high-risk job! Not enough!
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.
Ha! I know the one you’re talking about. “Watch out world, Taiwan’s gonna show you how we’re going to beat community spread in two weeks.” I actually retweeted it, then I realize, oh s***. No we’re not. Not mathematically possible. This has been in the community, according to today’s update from CECC since 4/6. We’ve been living in a Fool’s Paradise for more than a month!
Yep, seems like some prolonged disruptions to daily life is unavoidable! Having lived through New York's tragic full lockdown and two devastating waves, however, for me whatever Taiwan's imposing now should feel like a piece of cake. Not to mention I trust the instinct of people living here.
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.
Australians provide a great model for how flare-ups can be contained with discipline! I hope we can do the same. We are having a soft lockdown now, which I don’t really know is it. But fingers crossed! Thank you for the good advice and good thoughts!
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?
That's great! I did see the "not a substack" post was dated 21 Feb so I reasoned you had far more than the 24 that were tallied at the time. Although there's no content in that post I still go to it from time to time and try to channel the wisdom of the "thoughtful-looking Formosa Macaque."
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.
But what would be a better word? Gap in the armor? It just doesn’t seem as apropos. As I am Asian-American myself, it doesn’t make any sense for me to be using Chink in an insulting manner. I will update the subject/verb agreement.
"Flaw" would work. Or "... penetrated Taiwan's Covid armor." My point wasn't to illustrate how unprejudiced I am, but to wonder whether "chink" has as strong a negative connotation in Taiwan as it does in the U.S. And maybe it's just me. Maybe it doesn't negatively resonate in the U.S. as it once did. Anyway. I'm a copy editor and a newspaper columnist so I'm hypervigilant about word choices. Keep up the good work. I'll be interested in reading your posts. Peace.
“Flaw (or weakness) in COVID prevention measures” feels most correct to me. A set of health policies do not really act in a way similar to how armor protects one person.
You are too caught up in American parochial virtue-signaling culture and politically -correct-speak. “Chink in armor” only offends progressive white privileged Americans.
Wrong. I was interested in whether the word had the same derogatory connotation in Taiwan as it does in the U.S. You saw what you wanted to see in order to have an opinion that virtue-signals to white Americans that you're a moron. No offense.
I grew up in Taiwan learning English by watching tons of Hollywood tv shows and movies, so I knew it’s a derogatory word to use by anyone in any circumstances, especially now racial profiling and stop Asian hate are taken seriously, in addition to the fact that I never heard of the ch*** and armor” expression until reading this article today. I was baffled... is this like that African Americans can call themselves whatever they want but it doesn’t apply to the rest? I can’t speak for the entire population of Taiwan but certainly was surprised to read the sentence. I am simply curious and would like to learn how it affects the public’s views. I believe and agree that word choice is really important when you speak and write. So, when you, as a newspaper person/editor, write articles with that kind of caution or conscience then get called white privileged American, how is that right?
Right, we don’t quibble about that here and I am Taiwanese
I think it’s just you. I never noticed until you pointed it out and made it the main take away from a well written article about a serious situation
I absolutely agree
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 Nigel. Fundamentally, I still think we've got this. The next few weeks just won't be so fun.
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?
Hi Lynn, we can say they are the same varient, but I think the thread has been lost. There’s also this pilot and flight attendant from China airlines who went off to a sports bar after their three day quarantine despite supposing to be under health monitoring. When a cluster gets beyond a certain size contact tracing becomes hopeless.
The homeless elders in Wanhua are also a worry - they may all have been infected. 😛
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
I have no doubt, John. So much safer. But we ARE looking at possible exponential spread. This will be an interesting test case of if uncontained community spread CAN be pushed down without a hard lockdown.
A lockdown would be good, even if for a few days for CDC to do more tracing & advise businesses on the appropriate preventive methods. At the moment, businesses (incl. shops) are a bit lost e.g., no physical distancing, no limitations to customer in shops, everyone gathering around trying to scan the QR Codes…
I'd rather sacrifice my pay to stay home safe. 😛
Your opinion of infected crew mingling with tourists is flawed. The crew did not leave their room.
You’re right I will change it. I misunderstood what I was reading.
Using hotels is a convenient way of holding up wealthy friends in the tourism industry.
But the air circulation is not designed to medical protocols. Separate rooms is a fools paradise.
Of course infections will happen.
Mr. Waldron, you are, sadly, correct about ventilation systems. In addition, even systems that comply with strict protocols will fail if not properly maintained. Ignore the Coates comment, your position can be easily verified.
How on earth could you possibly be sure of this?
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.
They have very specific exercises. Sometimes they throw themselves against trees. I don’t really understand the ways of the Ah-Gongs, but they certainly seem very healthy!
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
I consider the finish line everybody on the island vaccinated. I think maybe September would be a good date to hope for. That’s a loooooooong time to cope with community spread.
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?
The moment where they really should have cracked down HARD on pilots was when that EVA airline pilot from New Zealand went AWOL while positive, IMHO. 3 day quarantine followed by 7 days “self monitoring”? That’s just ten days! For a high-risk job! Not enough!
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.
Ha! I know the one you’re talking about. “Watch out world, Taiwan’s gonna show you how we’re going to beat community spread in two weeks.” I actually retweeted it, then I realize, oh s***. No we’re not. Not mathematically possible. This has been in the community, according to today’s update from CECC since 4/6. We’ve been living in a Fool’s Paradise for more than a month!
Yep, seems like some prolonged disruptions to daily life is unavoidable! Having lived through New York's tragic full lockdown and two devastating waves, however, for me whatever Taiwan's imposing now should feel like a piece of cake. Not to mention I trust the instinct of people living here.
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! 👍
Australians provide a great model for how flare-ups can be contained with discipline! I hope we can do the same. We are having a soft lockdown now, which I don’t really know is it. But fingers crossed! Thank you for the good advice and good thoughts!
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?
This substack has been happening since we reached 100 people on the email list, Tod! Now I have almost 500!
That's great! I did see the "not a substack" post was dated 21 Feb so I reasoned you had far more than the 24 that were tallied at the time. Although there's no content in that post I still go to it from time to time and try to channel the wisdom of the "thoughtful-looking Formosa Macaque."
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.
I took the part about the buffet out. That was fake news sorry. I'll check out the other part soon.