Legal preparedness as part of COVID-19 response: the first 100 days in Taiwan.

Abstract

### Summary box Taiwan has won international praises for its rapid and responsive containment strategy over the novel coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome‐CoV‐2. Taiwan was estimated to be the second-worst hit country with its close proximity and dense economic activities with China.1 As of 7 April, the self-governing island nation of 23 million population has markedly low 373 cases and five deaths, with majority of cases from individuals returning from overseas.2 While there is no one-size-fits all solution to the pandemic, public health legal preparedness explains part of Taiwan’s success: it lays a critical foundation which centralises public health authority at the executive level, enabling rapid coordination across different ministries and agencies. In liberal democracies, law is central to pandemic response and countries around the world have taken various approaches towards mitigation with varying successes. In Taiwan, relying on the pre-existing public health legislations means that the government has so far managed the health crisis without having declared a public health emergency. Significantly, this means that the ordinary …