Covid Control

This is the door I came in through six days ago. And I will not exit for nine more days.

These are some of the things being done to prevent the spread of Coronavirus.

Taiwan:

Taiwan required us to get a covid test before departing the US, and it had to be taken within 72 hours of our flight departure. The documentation of the result had to have our name and birthdate (for ID purposes) on it. Mine had my name but not birthdate so Eva Air did not let me on the plane. I had to spend two days in NYC to get a new test while my family flew on as scheduled. Lucky for me I have a cousin and his wife who graciously put me up in their apartment in Flushing and showed me where to get what I needed.

USA:

In NYC the taxi I took from and to JFK airport had a piece of plastic separating the driver in the front from the passenger in the back.

The flight on EVA, a Taiwan airline: 

The airline's ground staff who were in contact with the public wore a lot of PPE. 

Everyone wore masks on the airplane the whole time. It was nearly a 16-hour flight. Each passenger sat in their own row, even my husband and our daughter were seated separately on their flight.

We were not allowed to switch seats even though there weren't many people on the plane. This is so they could figure out who was near whom and contact people in case anyone came down with the virus later.

After landing in Taipei:

After exiting the plane I had buy a Taiwan SIM card for the cell phone and fill out a detailed document stating name and contact info, what countries we'd been to recently, flight info, seat number on the plane, passport number, address of where we were planning to stay during quarantine, names of who was picking us up from the airport, (or in my case, that I was taking a quarantine taxi), and more.  This document was sent to or shown to various officials on my way through the airport. There was one health official at the airport whose job it was to tell me exactly which day my quarantine would end. Although on the day of my arrival I was to go directly to my quarantine location, the period of 14 day confinement would officially start on the next day. Now that I am in quarantine, everyday I have to fill out a form about my symptoms (Luckily none so far) and record my temperature twice daily. Plus I have to answer a daily text message from the Central Epidemic Command Center asking my health condition.

I was given a hotline number to call if I develop any symptoms.

All of us passengers had our temperature taken in the airport. While walking through the airport passengers walked across a disinfecting carpet, which was to clean off the bottom of our shoes.  Passengers and our luggage got sprayed with disinfectant upon leaving the airport. 

I had to fill out another form to get a taxi. This isn't any ole taxi. This is is a special taxi that takes you directly to your quarantine location, no stops along the way.  I was informed that the maximum price for this taxi from the airport to any location in northern Taiwan is $1000 (about $34 USD). And that is what I paid. 

When I arrived at our apartment building the concierge sprayed my hands and luggage with disinfectant.

Soleil and Greg walked up the stairs to our apartment because taking the elevator was considered public transportation.

We (our family of three) are doing our two week quarantine in the apartment that our friends helped us find and set up before our arrival. But if we didn't have that we'd be in a special quarantine hotel, possibly in separate rooms for each person.

Quarantine is serious. We are not allowed to go out to exercise or work or buy food or other essential items. Our friends deliver groceries to us. If I were to leave my apartment to wander during quarantine or take public transportation my cellphone can be tracked and I could be fined up to a million NT$. That is $34,000 USD!

Is all this precaution worth it? Yes.

Total Covid-19 cases in Taiwan as of Sept 25, 2020: 510

Population of Taiwan: 24 million

Total Covid-19 cases in Maine as of Sept 25, 2020: 5235

Population of Maine: 1.3 million