4 ms·

> Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Korea aren't under lockdown, they're stopping the spread by just having good testing and case tracking capacity, and good hygi

> Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Korea aren't under lockdown, they're stopping the spread by just having good testing and case tracking capacity, and good hygiene. You forgot Taiwan, who is faring much better than all three of the countries you mentioned.

odiroot 7y ago
And they did it all without closing their airports! What mostly helped was lack of mainland Chinese people entering the country. Also Taiwanese wear their face masks religiously and are used to obeying the rules set by the government. Finally (AFAIK) they have a very good health care system which handled the cases quickly and efficiently.
- starfallg 7y ago
  >What mostly helped was lack of mainland Chinese people entering the country If the whole world closed their borders to China back in early Jan (and followed up with tracing and quarantine), we would be seeing this right now. Unfortunately, China was lobbying heavily against it. Now China, being a massive exporter, has a global demand problem in addition to the local supply problem of shutting down their country for 8 weeks.
- stjohnswarts 7y ago
  face masks don't help unless you've got covid19 and are using it to prevent spreading. If you have flu like symptoms you should be staying home anyway.
  - kenha 7y ago
    I wonder if this is in fact working - Not so much to protect oneself from getting it, but preventing the no-symptom/mild symptom carriers from spreading to others.
  - mygo 7y ago
    please distinguish between surgical masks and N95 masks. N95 masks, fitted properly, do help prevent catching the virus. For a mask to be called N95 it has to be approved by the CDC. It’s specifically designed to block >95% of airborne particles. That’s why they’re recommended for caretakers at hospitals and frontline workers dealing with infected patients. Replaced every ~3 hours and worn in combination with goggles and ear protection, they minimize the risk of infection through mucosal membranes. They have also been in short supply. Surgical masks do not prevent catching the virus, but they help sick people not to spread it due to the mask catching some of the spray droplets when they cough / sneeze
    - starfallg 7y ago
      > Surgical masks do not prevent catching the virus, but they help sick people not to spread it due to the mask catching some of the spray droplets when they cough / sneeze That's not true at all. There is a reason why surgical masks are used by surgeons, but for the protection level needed by medical professionals, it is used as a part of a wider system. Used casually it prevents much of the droplets in the air from entering your respiratory system, as well as preventing a lot of touching of the face. There are studies that indicate wearing a mask decreases virus respiratory several-fold.
      - mygo 7y ago
        All the health experts I’ve heard from (and two of my immediate family members work at hospitals) have said that surgical masks do not prevent catching infections. You breathe by suction. Your diaphragm create a pressure difference by increasing the volume of the thorax and the air rushes into your lungs to compensate. The reason the N95 filters work is because when the air is sucked in, it must pass through the filter before entering your respiratory system, and that filter is designed to filter >95% of airborne particles (and often times even higher). For the surgical masks, the air just gets sucked in from the side, the path of least resistance. So the airborne particles would also just get sucked in from the side. The masks may cause changes in behavior that lead to lower infection probability (such as reminding you not to touch your face), but dipping your hand in glitter would be just as effective.
  - isaaafc 7y ago
    Given the incubation period is > 14 days, and more than just a few of the patients don't show symptoms at all, you'd be spreading the virus before you know it without a face mask.
- ptx 7y ago
  They instituted a 14-day quarantine for travellers from mainland China on the 24th of February and soon after for Korea, Italy and Iran. These were all already in place while other countries were pretending everything was OK and advising people arriving from Italy to go to work.
ptx 7y ago
Taiwan's extremely successful strategy combines thorough testing and tracing with other measures to slow down the spread, much like what the WHO is recommending but no one else seems to be doing. Very early on they instituted a 14-day quarantine period for anyone arriving from mainland China (later expanding this to Hong Kong and Macau), Korea, Italy and Iran. As of today, this now applies to the entire Schengen area (i.e., most of the EU). The government has also taken over mask production (increasing capacity) and distribution (with a rationing system and an online map of where they can be bought). Their website is very informative, with very transparent information about how many have been tested, confirmed, recovered, etc.: https://www.cdc.gov.tw/En https://www.cdc.gov.tw/En

odiroot 7y ago

And they did it all without closing their airports! What mostly helped was lack of mainland Chinese people entering the country. Also Taiwanese wear their face masks religiously and are used to obeying the rules set by the government. Finally (AFAIK) they have a very good health care system which handled the cases quickly and efficiently.

starfallg 7y ago
>What mostly helped was lack of mainland Chinese people entering the country If the whole world closed their borders to China back in early Jan (and followed up with tracing and quarantine), we would be seeing this right now. Unfortunately, China was lobbying heavily against it. Now China, being a massive exporter, has a global demand problem in addition to the local supply problem of shutting down their country for 8 weeks.
stjohnswarts 7y ago
face masks don't help unless you've got covid19 and are using it to prevent spreading. If you have flu like symptoms you should be staying home anyway.
- kenha 7y ago
  I wonder if this is in fact working - Not so much to protect oneself from getting it, but preventing the no-symptom/mild symptom carriers from spreading to others.
- mygo 7y ago
  please distinguish between surgical masks and N95 masks. N95 masks, fitted properly, do help prevent catching the virus. For a mask to be called N95 it has to be approved by the CDC. It’s specifically designed to block >95% of airborne particles. That’s why they’re recommended for caretakers at hospitals and frontline workers dealing with infected patients. Replaced every ~3 hours and worn in combination with goggles and ear protection, they minimize the risk of infection through mucosal membranes. They have also been in short supply. Surgical masks do not prevent catching the virus, but they help sick people not to spread it due to the mask catching some of the spray droplets when they cough / sneeze
  - starfallg 7y ago
    > Surgical masks do not prevent catching the virus, but they help sick people not to spread it due to the mask catching some of the spray droplets when they cough / sneeze That's not true at all. There is a reason why surgical masks are used by surgeons, but for the protection level needed by medical professionals, it is used as a part of a wider system. Used casually it prevents much of the droplets in the air from entering your respiratory system, as well as preventing a lot of touching of the face. There are studies that indicate wearing a mask decreases virus respiratory several-fold.
    - mygo 7y ago
      All the health experts I’ve heard from (and two of my immediate family members work at hospitals) have said that surgical masks do not prevent catching infections. You breathe by suction. Your diaphragm create a pressure difference by increasing the volume of the thorax and the air rushes into your lungs to compensate. The reason the N95 filters work is because when the air is sucked in, it must pass through the filter before entering your respiratory system, and that filter is designed to filter >95% of airborne particles (and often times even higher). For the surgical masks, the air just gets sucked in from the side, the path of least resistance. So the airborne particles would also just get sucked in from the side. The masks may cause changes in behavior that lead to lower infection probability (such as reminding you not to touch your face), but dipping your hand in glitter would be just as effective.
- isaaafc 7y ago
  Given the incubation period is > 14 days, and more than just a few of the patients don't show symptoms at all, you'd be spreading the virus before you know it without a face mask.
ptx 7y ago
They instituted a 14-day quarantine for travellers from mainland China on the 24th of February and soon after for Korea, Italy and Iran. These were all already in place while other countries were pretending everything was OK and advising people arriving from Italy to go to work.

ptx 7y ago

Taiwan's extremely successful strategy combines thorough testing and tracing with other measures to slow down the spread, much like what the WHO is recommending but no one else seems to be doing. Very early on they instituted a 14-day quarantine period for anyone arriving from mainland China (later expanding this to Hong Kong and Macau), Korea, Italy and Iran. As of today, this now applies to the entire Schengen area (i.e., most of the EU). The government has also taken over mask production (increasing capacity) and distribution (with a rationing system and an online map of where they can be bought). Their website is very informative, with very transparent information about how many have been tested, confirmed, recovered, etc.: https://www.cdc.gov.tw/En https://www.cdc.gov.tw/En