Is Taiwan learning to live with COVID?s
台灣正學著與病毒共存嗎?
Taipei has introduced a "new Taiwan model" to shift away from its
"zero-COVID" strategy. But public health experts warn of an increase in
COVID-19 fatalities if the island can't streamline policies.
台灣正揚棄過去的清零方向改導入「新台灣模式」。
但公衛專家警告台灣政府若不能精簡防疫政策，死亡人數恐持續增高。
'Constant changes' in COVID-19 policy spark chaos
防疫政策朝令夕改引發混亂
The changes in COVID-19 policy have created a flurry of confusion and chaos,
particularly for those testing positive.
防疫政策不斷變動已造成諸多困惑與混亂，尤其對確診者。
However, several people told DW that the official software used to arrange
the medical sessions had either crashed or failed to indicate clinics or
hospitals offering such services, leaving many frustrated. The patients said
they had had to leave home isolation and line up for PCR tests outside
hospitals for more than an hour to officially report their cases to the
government.
民眾告訴德國之聲，官方指引醫療流程的軟體不是當機就是無效。
快篩陽性的人必須離開隔離處所去醫院外排一個小時以上的隊伍做PCR後才能通報給政府。
"It feels like the government doesn't really have a comprehensive plan, and
they are always trying to catch up with changes in the outbreak."
For Chen, the government's ever-changing COVID-19 policies are increasing the
stress on patients.
有民眾認為政府實在沒有通盤的計畫，總是追在疫情後面跑；
更有民眾認為政府不斷變動的政策只是徒增病患的壓力。
Shortage of medical staff
醫療人力短缺
After the president of the Taiwan Union of Nurses Association revealed that
some frontline nurses would have to stay in hospitals to take care of
COVID-19 patients despite having tested positive themselves, Health Minister
Shih-Chung Chen announced Wednesday that the island was suffering a shortage
of medical staff.
直到護理師公會揭露第一線確診護理人員仍要上班照護其他陽性確診病人後，
衛福部長陳時中才於周三承認台灣醫療人力不足。
A victim of its own success
成功反被成功誤
Chunhuei Chi, director of the Center for Global Health at Oregon State
University and a former adviser to the National Health Insurance
Administration in Taiwan, said Taiwan "is not ready to face an outbreak at
this level.
美國奧瑞岡州立大學全球衛生中心主任紀駿輝教授認為「台灣對眼前的疫情層級還沒做好準備」。
Chi said Taiwan health authorities should have foreseen the exponential surge
of case numbers, based on other countries' experiences.
According to Chi, Taiwan still relies on using tactics from the early stages
of the pandemic to contain the outbreak.
他認為台灣當局早就應該要參照其他國家的經驗來推估疫情，
但台灣仍試圖用疫情初期的手段來圍堵眼前的大爆發。
Chi said Taiwanese authorities want to avoid hospitals becoming overburdened,
but they also don't want to let the outbreak "drag on for too long."
"Based on the experience in Europe and the United States, the curve of the
outbreaks only begins to flatten when at least 40% to 50% of the population
have contracted the virus. So far, the number of confirmed cases in Taiwan is
still too far from that goal, so this is the dilemma that Taiwanese
authorities are facing," he said.
台灣當局既怕醫院被擠爆，又怕疫情大爆發拖太久。
而依照歐美經驗，至少40%-50%的人口受到感染後，疫情爆發的曲線才會開始平緩。
目前台灣確診數離這目標還很遠，因此台灣當局正陷入兩難。