I didn't really realize how lucky I could ever be when I decided to change location around 5 years ago. Now that I live in Taiwan, I suddenly noticed that government need to be aware many things in public health. I already have enjoyed easy access to doctors, dentists and even hospitals when I've been in a need by national health insurance. That is so different to Finland. Only employer paid medical care is actually really good in Finland (not all of course).
I really appreciate the actions with Novid-19 in Taiwan. All actions immediately taken can be read from this article. Awareness of course came to here in 2003 when Taiwan was one of the most affected areas in the world in SARS. This current pandemic will sure change North America and Europe. I hope it will affect to people, too.
As a foreigner I was a bit uncertain what will happen next in January 2020. I just saw almost all people wearing face masks around me. I also started to use it time to time, like taking public transportation or going to bank, staying in elevators, etc. Also my temperature was measured in public offices, banks and later also in bigger coffee shops, universities came after WHO announced pandemic. I haven't seen people coming these places with high temperate. This thing I believe was the reason why spread was less: self-quarantined people staid home. There were no high level asking to do it.
Now that I have been back in Taiwan after several weeks and news started to flow, I trust more and more this country and its people. I feel more safe about latest actions. I must extend my stay here. I planned to see another country but not that many to go right now.
There are people here who will come back all over the world. One group of them will take private charter from Peru. This is paid by themselves. They will not wait government to pay when they're in a risk to get sick. It's a big difference in thinking which now seems to be clever. Taiwanese people first think about themselves, they feel that others will not care about them so much. Even if government was immediately in action, it's better to take responsibility of yourself. Not wait too long. 60 people still in Peru wait for Ministry of Foreign Affairs to organize their evacuation.
An interesting thing happened at my dentist some time ago. I had been traveling and I entered country at the time there were no restrictions to countries I had been. My dentist recommended to stay home next days because there was 14 days you can still get Novid-19 symptons. He said someone should have advice you and he knew this traveling from NHI system which alerted them. One healthcare system all over the country, not related to city or public or private. One system. Now that all arriving people are isolated, maybe I should have been more careful however I didn't work and mostly already stayed at home. In the beginning of the crisis all over the world.
Government paid factories to establish new production lines for creating more face masks. It's restricted and fixed price but can only buy if go early enough. I got 3 more today. Mostly older people waiting when the time comes, but they will also do it for the family. I believe they go every day. Sometimes you don't know about the future, it's hard to predict. How lucky you can be so suddenly!