It turns out life is full of unintended consequences. One plans a trip before a pandemic gets declared, one goes on that said trip and one ends up stuck in a country when borders close. Well this one is has become a temporary residence in Taiwan.

At least this gives me first-hand experience on how a country (properly) responds to a global pandemic. This isn’t a typical posting but rather a musing on the covid-19 response by Taiwan. I’m only going to gloss over their large-scale actions here as that’s something you can find on most major news organizations.

Their actions like immediate border control, widespread testing, the use of mobile phones to monitor individuals on self-quarantine or even control of masks productions are to be lauded. This has yielded results in that they’ve limited any major outbreak.

Rather than those large-scale governmental plans that we hear about, I’d like to focus on the daily life that affects us, the average Joe. Daily life that’s still continuing as normal due to their proactive response in these troubling times. These actions have started in Taiwan long before Covid-19 raged across the west, peaked during the Spring and have continued to some degree as Taiwan has eliminated community spread.

And a big final point. I understand that travel behavior has to be adapted to these uncertain times, even in a country with few cases. Upon arrival, I’ve had to rent an apartment on Airbnb for a couple weeks to rooming with others. I’ve had to wear facemasks during any interaction with strangers as recommended by the Taiwanese government. In general, I’ve had fewer interactions with folks.

These actions, combined with cautious and proactive hospitality workers, are something that has to be done in a time where the whole tourism industry is struggling, but also to help limit any possible spread of Covid-19. I’m unfortunately going to be a stranded traveler in a country where tourism is still eeking along, so I have to do my best to be responsible. So it seems like a good time to discuss what to expect in Taiwan and what one has to do to be as safe and socially distant as possible while in this circumstance.

What do you see day to day?

Facemasks

Well the first and most visually apparent sign are the publicly embraced facemasks. The majority of the public in crowded areas are wearing facemasks. The vigilance of the public does seems to vary from market to market, or city to city. Most of the time, everyone was wearing a mask and you couldn’t spot a naked face in the crowd. Other times… I think their health minister would probably pull out his hair if he saw that crowd.

As of late, taking public transportation now requires donning one of those suffocating head crabs. I recently got chided for my complacency by a bus driver for forgetting my mask (and rightfully so).

And not just any facemasks, everyone wears those proper surgical masks. There’s hardly a cloth mask in sight like those found in Vietnam or those in the west due to lack of supply. And how does everyone have an item that’s more coveted than unobtanium?

The government had decided to take control of the production of facemasks and provide a ration out to each individual. Through their national healthcare system, you take your insurance card to your local pharmacy and you pay a low, low price for your facemask allotment. Even tourists are included in this dole. Simply take your passport to the pharmacy each week to receive your supply of facial gold. By taking control of facemask production, the government prevented the hoarding or panic buying of needed goods that’s seen in most other parts of the world. Oh and producing a million facemasks a day seems to help too.

This isn’t all perfect though. There seems to be some slight problems of distribution in smaller cities where there are less pharmacies. Pharmacies in these smaller cities often ran out of their mask ration. When they got in a new shipment, customers would make long lines that snake around the block to purchase their portion. Hardly helpful when you need to social distance.

So how does the government get everyone to wear a facemask? There is a much longer history of wearing facemasks when sick or dust in Asia which definitely helps public acceptance. Facemasks here are seen as a minor inconvenience for the good of the public. It’s not an infringement of rights or a political statement, it’s just a small contribution by each individual in the fight against Covid. The people have wholeheartedly complied and even go out of their way to wear masks even when not required.

How will this affect you? You must wear facemasks on public transportation and should wear a facemask in most public places and expect to wear one when hanging around the public areas in your accommodation. As the threat of Covid in Taiwan has lessened, it has become extremely accessible to get facemasks at any local pharmacy.

Hand Sanitizer

It’s like the Wild West out here. Everyone is armed… with spray bottles filled with alcohol solution. And they’re not afraid to use it. Cleaning your hands before entry to any establishment seems to be the norm now. Restaurants, train stations and even the 7-Eleven all place these bottles on the front counter. Nicer restaurants and malls will even have an attendant whose sole job is to ensure that your hands will never be moist again.

Getting that filthy corona on your hands and then rubbing your face seems to be one of the primary methods of infection and the Taiwanese are locking that method of transmission down hard. Once I couldn’t read a sign before entering a restaurant and had a waiter briskly deny me the entry before pointing at the sink and soap outside the store.

This leads into a quick subtopic:

Sanitation

Your hands being clean is one deal, but what about all those inanimate objects you can touch? They’re just sitting there, daring you to poke at it and then rub your filthy, dirty hands all over your face.

Well Taiwan’s working on that too.

Cleaning of surfaces from tabletops, door handles and buttons are fairly regular. Generally, the fancier place you go, the more likely that there’s an attendant who’s ready to swoop in behind you and ensure that any pestilence you leave behind is obliterated. It seems that more affluent places are more likely to have these attendants so being part of the upper crust can’t hurt your chances of avoiding covid-19.

And what does this mean for you? If your accommodation is responsible, you should expect to see frequent cleanings of the building and rooms. I’ve seen an owner armed with those spray bottles, walk around every evening, and make sure the whole building smelled as sterile as a hospital.

Temperature Checks

Everywhere you go, there’s an infrared temperature thermometer to make sure you don’t have a fever. Sure corona can be infectious before symptoms appear, but this does help greatly reduce the number of obviously potential carriers from spreading their virulent bio bombs.

Want to go on an intercity bus? Temperature check. Want to go to a bank? Temperature check. Want to visit an airy national park? Still a temperature check. Want to go to a museum? Sign a check in sheet with your name, number and recently traveled countries. Oh and a temperature check too.

Sure not everywhere temperature checks you but it seems like the majority do. I get temperature checked so often that if I get a fever, I can probably plot the exact time that occurred.

I’m also not sure how the public got access to so many infrared thermometers on such short notice. Heck even a ritzy shopping mall had the fancy infrared temperature camera seen at airports. I imagine that each citizen here is equipped with a ‘China screwed us over again’ emergency kit where there’s a section for ‘another stupid wet market disease’ and the section contains facemasks, thermometers, hand sanitizer and a giant note that says ‘I told you so’.

Social Distancing

Honestly this one’s a bit of a hit or miss. There was a national holiday recently where everyone took their time off and mobbed popular vacation destinations all around Taiwan. This led a very flustered Taiwanese government to send out emergency cell phone notifications pleading people to avoid these crowded areas. Doesn’t sound too much from our Florida beach situation back at home.

Most often, you have teenagers and young adults gathering in groups, shielded by the invincibility of youth. Other times, the allure of scrumptious Taiwanese food plucks families from their homes and leads them to busy (though less so) night markets. I do attribute this to a bit of complacency since the government seems to have corona bottled up relatively well. But otherwise? It seems that people do operate with an extra degree of caution in their daily routines.

People will be talking with family members without facemasks but when a newcomer approaches, people will don their masks. Lines are marked out at meter and a half intervals to ensure people wait a proper distance apart. Once, I’ve even had a restaurant owner put on facemasks and gloves and then spray his gloves with alcohol solution before serving me. I couldn’t tell if I was getting a colonoscopy or dumplings.

This is probably one of the biggest downsides while traveling during this season. It’s hard to meet folks since foreign tourists are almost non-existent and as a traveler, you also have to do your part and limit your extended interactions with people. It means you better be happy with the company you already keep and make the few interactions you have truly important.

This is the biggest point as a traveler because if you have signs of a fever or flu-like symptoms, your accommodation can request you to self-quarantine, change to a private room or even deny you entry. Don’t try to hide it, just comply for everyone’s safety.

Attitudes

Already mentioned is the more cautious demeanor that many locals carry with them. But as a whole, what I found very pleasant is the lack of fear when meeting a foreigner. There have been reports of some discrimination against foreigners in Taiwan, but these seem to pale in comparison to the rampant discrimination you get if you’re a foreigner in Vietnam or if you’re Asian in the west.

Many people seem surprised that I’m not Taiwanese (I apparently have very ethnically Chinese features) and don’t behave differently afterwards. Many locals are characteristically shy but continue to be smiling and helpful. Granted there are few cases of corona here so there’s less to fear but I doubt this attitude will change too much.

I’m sure there’s so much more that’s changed but those are the big points that I feel worth mentioning. Now since it’s more apparent that I’m going to be here for an indefinite amount of time, I’m going to find some quiet town to lay low for a while, enjoy long walks in empty parks, revel at being in a country that’s not locked down and continue to be my usual socially distant self.

Stray Observations

• Vietnam has a lot of trash cans, yet trash is everywhere. Taiwan has no trash cans and there’s no trash anywhere.
• The garbage truck plays ice cream truck or classical music to herald its coming. Residents need to come out of their houses to throw away garbage.
• 7 Eleven has some seriously good prepackaged meals.
• The blue urinal cakes turn white when you pee on them.
• Goddamn mosquitoes are everywhere. Taiwan may be winning the war against Covid, but Dengue still plagues this island.

Until next time.