The Outcome and Implications of Public Precautionary Measures in Taiwan–Declining Respiratory Disease Cases in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

<jats:p>With the rapid development of the COVID-19 pandemic, countries are trying to cope with increasing medical demands, and, at the same time, to reduce the increase of infected numbers by implementing a number of public health measures, namely non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). These public health measures can include social distancing, frequent handwashing, and personal protective equipment (PPE) at the personal level; at the community and the government level, these measures can range from canceling activities, avoiding mass gatherings, closing facilities, and, at the extreme, enacting national or provincial lockdowns. Rather than completely stopping the infectious disease, the major purpose of these NPIs in facing an emerging infectious disease is to reduce the contact rate within the population, and reduce the spread of the virus until the time a vaccine or reliable medications become available. The idea is to avoid a surge of patients with severe symptoms beyond the capacity of the hospitals’ medical resources, which would lead to more mortality and morbidity. While many countries have experienced steep curves in new cases, some, including Hong Kong, Vietnam, South Korea, New Zealand, and Taiwan, seem to have controlled or even eliminated the infection locally. From its first case of COVID-19 on the 21 January until the 12 May, Taiwan had 440 cases, including just 55 local infections, and seven deaths in total, representing 1.85 cases per 100,000 population and a 1.5% death rate (based on the Worldometer 2020 statistics of Taiwan’s population of 23.8 million). This paper presents evidence that spread prevention involving mass masking and universal hygiene at the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a 50% decline of infectious respiratory diseases, based on historical data during the influenza season in Taiwan. These outcomes provide potential support for the effectiveness of widely implementing public health precaution measures in controlling COVID-19 without a lockdown policy.</jats:p>

Non-pharmaceutical interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic: A review

“…The left column describes the main categories in this group of articles. Subcategory Country and references Effects on spreading Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay [309] ; Australia [310] Bangladesh [311] ; China [31] , [32] , [33] , [312] , [313] , [314] , [315] ; China, Germany, India, Italy, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, UK, USA [316] ; Italy [317] , [318] ; New Zealand [319] ; Puerto Rico [320] ; South Korea [321] ; Taiwan [322] ; USA [323] , [324] , [325] , [326] , [327] , [328] ; 44 countries [329] ; 53 countries [330] ; 56 countries [331] ; 142 countries [332] ; 149 countries [333] Effects on behaviors China [334] ; China, Italy [335] ; Denmark, Sweden [336] ; Germany [337] USA [338] , [339] , [340] , [341] ; 20 countries [342] ; 67 countries [343] Effects on medical practice Italy [344] ; Netherlands [345] ; UK [346] …”

“…These articles study the impact on the unfolding of the disease focusing on the measures adopted in a specific country [31] , [32] , [33] , [309] , [310] , [311] , [312] , [313] , [315] , [317] , [318] , [319] , [320] , [322] , [323] , [324] , [325] , [326] , [327] , proposing multi country analyses [316] , [329] , [330] , [331] , [332] , [333] , and characterizing the effects of NPIs on other diseases [314] , [321] , [328] .…”

Big Data, Decision Models, and Public Health

“…With the rapid development of the COVID-19 pandemic, countries are trying to cope with increasing medical demands, and, at the same time, to reduce the increase of infected numbers by implementing a number of public health measures, namely non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). The third paper, "The Outcome and Implications of Public Precautionary Measures in Taiwan-Declining Respiratory Disease Cases in the COVID-19 Pandemic", by Hsieh et al [7], presents evidence that spread prevention involving mass masking and universal hygiene at the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a 50% decline of infectious respiratory diseases, based on historical data during the influenza season in Taiwan. These outcomes provide potential support for the effectiveness of widely implementing public health precaution measures in controlling COVID-19 without a lockdown policy.…”

Mobility Patterns of the Portuguese Population During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Study

“…The world started vaccination in late 2020 yet it will still take some time for most countries to achieve herd immunity at the current rate. So, at this point, the best alternatives to control the pandemic remain physical distance, frequent handwashing, and the use of personal protective equipment [5,6]. Based on this principle, this study investigates the influence of the mobility of the Portuguese population on the spread of COVID-19.…”