Proactive Strategies, Social Innovation, and Community Engagement in Relation to COVID-19 in Taiwan

When the first case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection occurred in China in late 2019, Taiwan was predicted to be one of the most affected countries because of its economic activities and transportation exchanges with China. On January 20, 2020, the activation of Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) was established to integrate resource of the administration, the academic, medical and private sectors and formulate guidelines and regulations in the fight against COVID-19. As of February 10, 2021, only less than 1,000 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Taiwan since the first confirmed case on January 21, 2020, and most cases are classified as imported. Tight border controls, rapid mobilization by the public and private sectors, prompt decision-making and implementation, well-coordinated distribution of medical supplies, and transparent information and advanced digital technology are helping Taiwanese society to fight COVID-19. Especially, digital technology provides a new type of social innovation to help making public to easy access transparent information or prevent the transmission of misinformation and disinformation to combat COVID-19 effectively in Taiwanese society.