- organized by Bureau of Foreign Trade
- Implemented by Taiwan External Trade Development Council, TAITRA
Mar.11, 2020
As the COVID-19 epidemic spreads worldwide, most countries are facing a shortage of protective supplies for their frontline medical staff who constantly face the risk of infection day and night. Taiwan is no exception.
Taiwan is one of the world’s major manufacturers and exporters of textiles and apparel, and is constantly developing new technologies to advance the industry. Taiwan is a major provider of functional fabrics for well-known international outdoor and sportswear brands, and is supplying over half of the world’s functional fabrics. Taiwan’s non-woven fabrics and synthetic staple fibers are recognized by the international standards to be top quality.
In the case of the COVID-19 outbreak, what is Taiwan doing to make sure frontline medical staff have access to the necessary protective gear and supplies?
To start, the Taiwan government acted swiftly to assemble a national textile alliance. The team consists of major industry players from upstream raw material suppliers to downstream product manufacturers, working day and night to meet the sudden demand surge.
Starting mid-March, 100,000 isolating clothing and 1 million protective clothing supplied by Taiwanese makers will be delivered to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, which will then be dispatched to the frontline. Meanwhile, non-woven fabric manufactures are also providing the key materials for face mask production to meet domestic demands.
At the end of the day, the overwhelming level of goodwill from Taiwanese manufacturers have contributed to the exceptional results in the nation’s epidemic prevention efforts.
***As of today, Tuesday March 10, the COVID-19 outbreak has resulted in more than 110,000 confirmed cases worldwide. As of writing, a total of 47 confirmed cases were reported in Taiwan, with 1 deceased, 17 released from isolation, and the remainder hospitalized in stable condition. The current data indicated that, the risk of infection to international travelers within Taiwan is still considered low to minimal.
***The latest reports as shown in the following table
|
Nations |
Confirmed cases (newly acquired cases today) |
|
China, including Hong Kong (115), Macau (10) |
80,879 (20) |
|
Republic of Korea |
7,513 (131) |
|
Italy |
7,375 (1,797) |
|
Iran |
7,161 (595) |
|
France |
1,412 (286) |
|
Germany |
1,139 (902) |
|
Spain |
1,046(433) |
|
U.S.A. |
704 (304) |
|
2 cruise ships in international conveyance |
696 (0) |
|
Japan |
519 (25) |
|
Holland |
321 (56) |
|
UK |
319 (46) |
|
Switzerland |
311 (30) |
|
Sweden |
260 (57) |
|
Belgian |
240 (75) |
|
Norway |
169 (0) |
|
Singapore |
160 (10) |
|
Austria |
131 (29) |
|
Malaysia |
117 (18) |
|
Bahrain |
109 (53) |
|
Greece |
84 (11) |
|
Australia |
83 (0) |
|
Canada |
77(13) |
|
Iraq |
67 (6) |
|
Kuwait |
65 (4) |
|
UAE |
60 (0) |
|
Iceland |
60 (5) |
|
Egypt |
59(4) |
|
Denmark |
59 (23) |
|
San Marino |
59(24) |
|
Thailand |
50 (0) |
|
Taiwan |
47(2) |
|
India |
47(7) |