| Abstract: | On the basis of recently published literatures about COVID-19 in Biomedical Journal, we are bringing together this collection of News, Short Communication, Reviews and Original Articles and highlighting the prompt, direct responses of the Taiwanese government in managing this crisis and several thorough reviews and fundamental research on COVID-19. Taiwan is so close to Mainland China and was expected to have a very high incidence and number of COVID-19 cases in 2020. However, given a painful experience and lesion learnt from SARS 17 years ago, the Taiwanese government has been on constant alert and ready to promptly respond to this pandemic arising from China. At the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, the National Health Command Center (NHCC) of Taiwan, unifying a central command system that is composed of the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), the Biological Pathogen Disaster Command Center, the Central Medical Emergency Operations Center and the Counter-Bioterrorism Command Center, rapidly established several critical and timely actions including border control from the air and sea in early January, big data- and technology-based identification of cases, systematic quarantine of suspected cases, proactive case finding, resource allocation, daily press conference and extensive public education, negotiation with other countries and regions, formulation of policies for schools, childcare and nursing homes, and relief to businesses [1]. Apparently, the CECC effectively coordinated different efforts by various ministries, including the ministries of transportation, economics, labor, education, and environmental protection to comprehensively counteract the emerging public health crisis, allowing Taiwan to manage the outbreak exceptionally well. In addition to these strategies mentioned above, the commander of CECC requested National Health Research Institutes (NHRI), the only mission-oriented medical and health research center in Taiwan, to take the responsibility in coordinating clinical resources and provide a national technology platform for COVID-19 research. In order to develop rapid diagnostic reagents or new drugs, high quality human samples with comprehensive clinical data for testing and verification prior to real clinical application are extremely critical. Those bio-specimens are also essential for the basic research and epidemiological analyses. Within two weeks, the NHRI Biobank completed all the ethical and regulatory processes, and the National Biobank Consortium of Taiwan (NBCT), also operated by NHRI, started to recruit patients and collect their blood samples [2]. Meanwhile, the Taiwanese government made several endeavors to improve the current practice of epidemiological investigation by introducing new technologies in digital platform and knowledge graphs [3]. Contact tracing is an important control measure to contain the spread, especially in the early stage of an infectious disease outbreak. In this issue, a swift development of an e-Outbreak Platform that provides a semi-structured, multifaceted and computer-aided questionnaire to reinforce disease control and contact tracing was described by Chen and his colleagues. Furthermore, Dr. Seak presented very proactive strategies implemented by Lin-Kou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (LCGMH) to effectively prevent spread of COVID-19 among healthcare workers of emergency department (ED) during outbreak [4]. LCGMH is one of the largest hospitals in the world and the nearest tertiary hospital to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, the largest and busiest airport in Taiwan. Its ED, with approximately 15,000 visits per month, is also one of the largest and busiest EDs in the world. During the COVID-19 outbreak, they have successfully managed to maintain a “zero-infection” rate among their ED healthcare workers through various, systematic approaches including a clear flowchart with route planning, strict infection control policies and regulation of medical equipment, and team-based segregation in the workplace. The meticulous implementation of these strategies in LCGMH is certainly the key to contribute the successful management against COVID-19. |
