2023 COVID Regulations: Taiwan Lifts Indoor Mask Mandate
As governments around the world downgrade COVID-19 to an endemic flu, many have also lifted their mask mandates as seen in neighboring Japan and South Korea. We look at Taiwan’s approach as it relaxed indoor mask requirement on February 20 despite an average daily caseload of 20,000. In this episode, Chan Chang-chuan, National Taiwan University Institute of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Distinguished Professor, discusses whether the world could be out of the woods in putting the pandemic behind in 2023. We also hear from Jonathan Chang, China Surgical Dressings Center Chief Operating Officer, Taiwan's largest face mask manufacturer, on how this key export continues to save lives around the world and has raised Taiwan’s soft power through the ‘Taiwan Can Help’ campaign. Legislator and former physician Lin Ching-yi also shares with Taiwan Talks what to expect in the nation’s pandemic response going forward. Lastly, U.S.-based pulmonologist William Chang compares Taiwan’s response to his first-hand experience in saving COVID patients during the outbreak in the U.S. Topics discussed: - Taiwan’s pandemic response and the country’s relaxation of mask regulations - Face masks: How Taiwan’s PPE donations have saved lives and raised its global profile - CSD, Taiwan’s largest mask manufacturer: Secrets behind its quality and popularity - XBB 1.5 variant: Will the world see a new wave of infections? - Deaths vs. new infections: What is the new COVID barometer? - Taiwan’s humanistic and well-managed approach to the pandemic - Post-COVID world: Opportunities in Taiwan’s face mask industry
