After initial success, Taiwan struggles to get out of “zero COVID” policy Coronavirus pandemic News

Taipei, Taiwan – Taiwan quickly decided to close its borders in the early days of the pandemic he achieved a low death rate and he turned the envy of the world into a sense of normalcy.

Nearly two years later, the autonomous island could fall victim to its initial success, with some experts saying health authorities continue to pursue an “zero COVID-19” isolationist policy, despite the wide availability of vaccines.

“The people of Taiwan – let me say a strong word – have been‘ ruined ’with a good life and with that there is low tolerance for any outbursts in the community,” said Chunhuei Chi, a professor and director of the Oregon State Center for Global Health. The university, he told Al Jazeera.

Taiwan’s border restrictions remain among the most stringent in the world, and even those who have been vaccinated, including citizens, have to endure a 14-day quarantine, even though Hong Kong and mainland China maintain an even stricter 21-day hotel regime.

In May, authorities closed the border to anyone who did not have citizenship or an existing residence certificate for foreigners — the equivalent of a U.S. green card — creating headaches for foreigners with job offers or school placements.

Although authorities recently began allowing the return of foreign workers, students, academics and professionals with a three-year “gold card” visa, the entry window will close again in mid-December as Taiwan prepares for a large number of foreign nationals. Lunar New Year on February 1st.

In some cases, foreigners already living in Taiwan have been forced to leave without a limit, as they are required to leave and re-enter to renew their visa. In other cases, foreign residents are allowed to live under a visa-free amnesty, while the rules related to COVID-19 appear to change on a case-by-case basis.

Daniel Johnson, a British-South African technology company that went to Taiwan with a work holiday visa a year ago, is among those left in limbo.

Johnson, who agrees with the type of exile he says the government wants to attract, must ask for “extensions” of 30 days a month. Every time he has had to tell officials that he does not feel safe when he returns to the UK and refuses a certificate of residence and a national health insurance card, most foreigners can apply after living continuously for six months.

“It was enough to get a visa when we arrived, it was difficult to know the updates of the different visas, because each had its own nuances and things changed,” Johnson told Al Jazeera. “But the documentation didn’t state that. I assumed it would be multilingual documentation, and in some cases it was, but in many cases it didn’t exist at all or it was old. ”

Like many foreigners, Johnson has found that immigration and consular officials do not have the opportunity or information to navigate COVID-related changes, often receiving different answers to questions depending on the day.

In some cases, the border has been quietly opened for foreign professionals, executives and specialists who have applied for an emergency travel exemption through their company, according to industry groups such as the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham).

Following the special application and case-by-case review, these separate visa approvals have been used in various industries for specialists in Taiwan itself, as well as shift executives, as described by AmCham President Andrew Wylegala as a system. “Welcome” but not ideal.

“There is concern that it is a bit ad hoc because it may be different for different sectors, that the deadlines may not be completely clear and that the criteria listed may be somewhat vague or that the process may be difficult,” Wylegala said. he said.

Wylegala said that in the long run, Taiwan could lose business and trade agreements with its reopened residents.

“Conservative mode”

Although COVID-19 has affected smaller businesses and sectors such as tourism, Taiwan’s economy as a whole has seen strong growth over the past year driven by its semiconductor and technology industries.

“People don’t see this as harmful to our entire economy, just business travelers, tourists, people who have the opportunity to travel,” Hong-Jen Chang, who was director of the CDC in Taiwan from 1999 to 2000, told Al Jazeera. .

Due to the national referendum in December and the 2022 local elections for key positions like mayor of Taipei, the government and the main opposition political parties in Taiwan continue to highlight the dangers of the virus. .

“There’s a perfect Taiwanese language for that:‘ The performers want to end the show, but not the audience, ’” said Chi Oregon State University professor. “While managers are thinking and planning to relax and open up, knowing that the audience, the people of Taiwan, have a very low tolerance for any appearance, not even a small appearance, which tends to encourage them in a more conservative way.”

A even after a big appearance in MayThe number of COVID-19 cases and deaths remains among the lowest in the world at less than 17,000 and 848, respectively, according to the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

“From the international standard what happened in Taiwan in May and June is very light, but it was considered very serious in Taiwan,” Chik said. “This public sentiment put undue pressure on political and political leaders.”

After a shortage of initial vaccines earlier this year, as a result of delays in the COVAX international vaccination initiative, Taiwan has been slowly moving away. he made up for his lack through donations Producing the Medigin vaccine from the USA, Japan, Lithuania, Slovakia and the Czech Republic and its home Medigin.

Vaccination rates have reached 77 percent for the first dose and about 50 percent for both, according to the Taiwan Epidemic Center.

Despite being on track to reach maximum vaccine coverage in a few weeks, authorities have given little indication that reopening is imminent.

Chang, the former director of the CDC, said Taiwan would have to open up eventually, but officials were in a difficult position as health concerns were measured against the economy and public opinion.

Authorities may ease some travel restrictions by increasing tests on foreign arrivals, he said. But this would lead to the creation of an even more complex system that can be difficult to communicate to the public.

“When you say a case is not supported, it’s hard to design a system,” Chang said. “It’s doable, though [government] it may not have the support of the public. So that’s the problem. Because we are a democracy, right? Not like China. ”