Virus Outbreak: Tsai, VP urge unity against COVID-19KEY DIFFERENCE: As opposed to the SARS outbreak in 2003, central and local governments have joined forces to combat the novel coronavirus, Chen Chien-jen saidBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterPresident Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) yesterday called for unity in the fight against COVID-19 as they reflected on a lockdown at Taipei City Hospital’s Heping branch during the SARS outbreak 17 years ago. Thousands of medical personnel, patients and their families suddenly found themselves forcibly confined in the hospital,” Tsai wrote on Facebook in Chinese. Taiwanese, having experienced the SARS outbreak, must still remember the panic when the epidemic spiraled out of control, she said. Quarantined medical staff hold a banner out a window at Taipei City Hospital’s Heping branch on May 4, 2003, during the SARS outbreak. The center has arranged for testing of 1,852 medical personnel, none of whom have tested positive, he said, questioning whether it is necessary to test a wider range of health workers.

Source: Taipei Times April 24, 2020 15:56 UTC