https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/03/12/8145224...
Also, as an American, I'm embarrassed by my country's response and by how my president addresses the nation. PM Lee shows how you talk to your country:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mYs1Uyx3c8
His original address five weeks prior:
It's very close to the hot zone, millions of people travel to and from mainland China every year, it has roughly the population of Australia living on 10% of the land Japan has, the WHO refuses any cooperation, and yet there have been under 50 cases and no local transmission.
Not only that, but as a democratic state, Taiwan's control measures have been remarkably measured.
I'd credit two factors:
1) Imposing travel limits three weeks before China even admitted there was an outbreak. After SARS, the TW government had a plan for this epidemic and a healthy skepticism for both official news and the WHO.
2) Taiwan has a relatively high trust society. People generally trust the local CDC and make a genuine effort to take preventative measures, even those primarily for the safety of others. A phone alert is generally all that's needed as a quarantine reminder for those exposed.
That's not surprising, since the WHO doesn't recognise Taiwan as an independent country and refuses to help them, I'm glad they were able to take their own successful measurements.
No trust in government and a general attitude of "it's just a flu, and I got things to do"...
Which is notable that the US CDC seems to be following WHO closer than anyone, at least early on...
Taiwan has had a spectacular response to the virus - that is the gold standard that Italy (or Korea) should be compared against.
Taiwan implemented more stringent inspection requirements for people arriving from the Wuhan area as soon as China notified WHO, on 31 Dec 2019.
For example, if a Singaporean Malay marries a Malaysian Malay, there is still a large chance their Permanent Residency application will be denied. This usually doesn't happen to someone who marries Han Chinese, of which Singapore is 70%.