Life in Taipei 3 months after the coronavirus outbreak

An ambulance worker in Taipei (May 5, 2020)

Taiwan recorded the first official coronavirus case on January 21, 2020. That's about three and a half months ago from today. At that time the outbreak was already very strong in the city of Wuhan and spreading to other parts of China as well as countries across the world. It was said that Taiwan will be the most affected country after China, but luckily the opposite proved to be true and today I want to talk about my journey during this pandemic, how I coped with it and how life was in Taiwan during this time.

Taipei in January, 2020

People near Taipei 101 (January 10th, 2020)

Most of January I did not care about the coronavirus. I think there was some information about it in Taiwanese media on the periphery, but not much, because we were in the middle of a presidential election (January 11th), as well as getting ready for the upcoming Lunar New Year celebrations (January 25th). Life was normal here, until we got the first case reported on January 21st. Then the media started to report on it a lot and coronavirus began to dominate the headlines here. At that time I was very sick, I had a strong flu for about 2 weeks (from mid to end of January). It started with a sore throat and fatigue which bothered me for a week, then it suddenly turned into a nasty dry cough that plagued me until the end. I did not go to the doctor, but I took my girlfriend's medicine, because he got the same flu. Looking back, I wonder if that was really flu or we had Covid-19. We can only speculate at this point, but at that time I was convinced I just had a flu and nothing else.

My post from February 4th: Living in Taipei during the novel coronavirus scare>>

Taipei in February, 2020

In early February, just after Lunar New Year holidays, Taiwan acted swiftly. The government intervened in the free market when it comes to masks and established a mask rationing. They helped local companies to ramp up production, they fixed the prices to avoid gouging, and they made sure everybody with a health insurance card is able to get a few masks per day. People were diligently standing in line in front of certain stores and pharmacies, the process was really well executed. We personally did not need masks, as my wife bought a large quantity in early January, as she wanted to prepare for the flu season.

Staff working at Taipei 101 taking a break (February 7th, 2020)

Life changed in Taiwan drastically in February, people were visibly concerned, went out less, kept distance - most took this issue very seriously. School holidays were extended for 2 more weeks, so kids were at home a full month. That made streets emptier and quieter in the first 3 weeks of February, so the difference in just a month was huge. I started to prepare for the worst: I changed my Taiwanese Dollars to Euros and was preparing to eventually move to Germany, where most of my family and relatives live (my mum, uncle and cousins). My father and his side is from Texas, but I'm not very close to them, and also not interested to move there. At that time Germany had very low number of cases, while the region here began to explode with infection, especially South Korea. Remember, at that time 100 new cases was a huge number, and by end of February the outbreak in Daegu started to deliver numbers in thousands, and made Korea the second most affected country in the world. My life at that time slowed down, I was worried, but still remained relatively calm. I just didn't go out much unless it was very necessary. This was also a time where I tried to explain my family and friends back in Europe and in the States that this is a very serious issue, that they should stash on masks and food, something I was doing as well to be prepared for a possible lockdown of Taipei. They did not really believe it was a serious issue at that time, but it all changed in March.

My post from March 8th: Living in Taipei during the coronavirus - a month later>>

Taipei in March, 2020

The first third of March was quite similar to February for me. We were still looking at Wuhan, South Korea and increasingly towards Italy and Iran, two new hotspots. I knew it won't take long before the States become another hotspot, and my concern levels started to skyrocket. When the NBA suspended the season on March 11, my world really changed a lot. The NBA was my last escape from reality, it helped me to fill my mornings with things not related to coronavirus, and it was suddenly gone. Then New York became a huge hot spot, and everybody in the States went beserk. Suddenly the issue really became global, suddenly it felt huge and heavy, and my mental health worsened.

A commuter in the Taipei Metro (March 8th, 2020)

About a week later Taiwan imposed a ban on foreign visitors. From March 19th on, only Taiwanese nationals were allowed to enter the country, and every returnee was forced to a mandatory 14 day quarantine. As Europe started to get several hotspots all over the continent, from Italy to Spain, Germany and UK, a lot of Taiwanese who work or study there decided to return. We had 50 confirmed cases on March 13th, and it increased to 283 by March 31st. During that period I wrote Taiwan is slowly losing grip on coronavirus containment due to human selfishness, and I was very concerned about whether also here COVID-19 will explode and lead to a nationwide lockdown. At that time I believed this is the 2nd wave that might be very difficult to contain, and I also wrote about it.

My post from March 18th: Taiwan is facing the 2nd coronavirus wave>>

An ambulance in Taipei (March 18th, 2020)

During this time my mental health deteriorated, and I was having several days where I was feeling very anxious. I'm suffering from anxiety in the past few years, but I am able to control it, as long as I feel I can control my life and the situation around me. Now that Europe and the States became huge hot spots, and all sports stopped, as well as Taiwan seemingly losing grip on the crisis, I just could not contain it anymore. It was really tough.

My post from March 22nd: Losing my mind in Taipei right now>>
My post from March 29th: Living with anxiety during Coronavirus>>

Taipei in April, 2020

Social distancing sign at Burger King (April 14th, 2020)

I wasn't feeling well most of April. My anxiety started to affect my body, I was not able to sleep well, I experienced stretches of fatigue and nausea. Some days were better than others, but it just didn't go away. There were days where I forced myself to sleep earlier and I felt a bit better the next day. But it usually didn't last long, some nights I just wasn't able to sleep, even if I laid in bed for hours. I started to get a sore throat, headaches, itchy eyes, some of these remained for weeks in one form or another. The weather was relatively cold and rainy, it's was a very gloomy and depressing life. Somewhere in the middle of the month I consciously decided to not follow coronavirus news anymore. I muted the word on Twitter, and that helped a lot. But there was still no way to avoid the issue, I still listened to some German talk shows. I'm a very logical and rational person, I try my best to understand this crisis as best as possible and predict when this thing will go away and I will be back to some kind of normalcy. I'm aware that we're very safe in Taiwan relative to other countries, but I'm an international person. It just affects me that Europe and the States are plagued with this issue, I can't just switch off this fact and move on with my life.

Taiwanese media satirizing the Director-General of the WHO (April 16th, 2020)

Taipei in May, 2020

Not even a week into May, it seems Taiwan is really doing well when it comes to coronavirus. We had several days of zero new reported cases. I personally still don't feel good, anxiety still holds a grip on me and I am considering to go to the doctor. These days it's extremely hot, we had way over 30 degrees Celsius several days in a row and it's the first time this year that I had to run air conditioners most of the day. It's crazy how early in the year it got so extremely hot. Life is not much different right now than it was in April: 80% of people on the street wear masks, on public transportations however masks are obligatory. I don't go out much, I mainly stay in my own neighborhood and go out to buy groceries. I realized my food stash was not very well constructed, I bought too many instant soups, and I am eating them every day now to lower the inventory and save money. It's a bit tedious, but I have to do it. Masks are now not regulated anymore, supply is sufficient for the current demand. The Taiwanese government is thinking to loosen some restrictions, but I think it's still better to keep things as they are (semi-open), and wait and see what happens. Here are some more images from life in Taiwan during coronavirus.

A grocery store marked spots where to stand, but not many people follow.

The same issue in convenience stores: Not many people follow the distancing rules.

Warnings about coronavirus are everywhere.

Hand sanitizers are in good supply everywhere.

I would say most people in my neighborhood, which is very suburban and a mid-to-low income area, abide by rules imposed by the government and try to live carefully. Some elders and youngsters don't wear masks, most others do. All kids wear them to school and in school. Hand sanitizers are supplied in banks and some restaurants, government buildings and schools measure temperature, there are also thermal cameras employed in some metro stations. Taiwan has a layered approach, where not everything is 100% proof, but when you have a layer after layer of measures, it really helps to control the issue. At least it helped for the past three months and a half. Let's hope this will remain.