Back in April, I listed five measures governments can take to prevent the spread of Covid in order to prevent any need for economically devastating lockdowns, drawing on the experience of some Asian nations. Four of the measures (test and trace, healthcare capacity, facemasks, and good communication about distancing) have all proven their worth, but the fifth may be the most important of all: imposing border checks in time.
That’s exactly what Taiwan did well. It has managed to keep its number of Covid cases down to just 842, with a population of nearly 24 million, by halting flights from China early on and implementing strict quarantine rules. In Europe, border checks haven’t been as stringent, which may well have played a role in the emergence of a ‘second wave’ in fall 2020, with hospitalisation going up in all of Europe.
A notable exception though is Finland, which was able to avoid the second wave altogether, despite keeping its economy and society largely open.
Originally published by The Spectator
