CBS News
Date: May 26, 2020
By: Holly Williams

The streets of Taiwan are bustling, restaurants are open to diners, schools only shut down for two weeks in February, and even the baseball season is in full swing — though one team temporarily relied on mannequin spectators. With a population of nearly 24 million, the island has had just 7 coronavirus deaths, and thanks to rapid contact tracing and testing, fewer than 450 total COVID-19 infections.

All that, despite sitting only about 80 miles from mainland China, where the pandemic began.

"We have been planning for any kind of pandemic that may affect Taiwan," Foreign Minister Joseph Wu told CBS News, "because back in 2003, Taiwan was hit very hard by SARS."

Taiwan already had a public health disaster command center ready to activate, generous stockpiles of protective gear, and Taiwanese companies have invested in high-tech solutions, including robotic testing machines.    [FULL  STORY]