With Taiwan in Mind, Here are Some Adjustments We Should Make

  With an eye toward what Taiwan has done, what should we do at this point, in America? Only 50 cases? (is that active cases, or all of them totalled?) Only one death in Taiwan?
   One, they've used face masks. In the U.S., for some reason, we've been told not to use them. Why? At any rate, they seem to have worked in Taiwan, so lets roll them out to the full of our nation. Taiwan wanted as many of the masks available for its people as possible, so it banned their export. It didn't want the expense of them to keep them from being purchased, so it did some price-setting.
   I saw a picture of a classroom in Taiwan. Each desk had a little fence, of sorts, setting around the top of the desk. I imagine, if you coughed, the little wall around your desk would help prevent the germs from reaching other students.
   Let us do the same, in our offices, our restaurants, and in any place of public gathering where there are tables and desks to sit at.
   I did not read of much in the way of business shutdowns. Perhaps the domestic business is not being much affected. If you do not shut down the stores, the economy is sparred, in that regard. Taiwan is an exporting nation, with much of its economy reliant on that, so it is being impacted there.
   What should we do in the U.S., then? Of course you move what jobs you can to the home. But, do not close businesses. Do not put people out of jobs. If a restaurant goes to take-out only, the servers lose their jobs. When it comes time to pay their rent, they can't. And, when the landlord goes to pay his mortgage, he (or she) can't. It has a rippling effect on the whole economy.
   If it is, truly, necessary to shut down jobs, do so. But, I do not know that it is. We should be careful not to adversely affect our economy. The Wall Street losses are one thing, but the loss of personal jobs and the closing of businesses could be must more devastating.
   Continue to hunker down, and to keep social distancing. If you don't need to go visit that friend who might or might not have coronavirus, don't. We live in an age of social media and cellphones. They serve as a perfect anecdote to visiting just to socialize. Use the technology we have been blessed with to get us through these times.
   Tourism? I wonder on it. It, too, is part of our economy. If you are just putting the vacation on hold, do so. But, if you must vacation, vacation. But, visiting to relatives and friends in distant states? If you have weddings and such, go -- with care and that face mask. But, travel to family in other states just to be visiting should be avoided.
   And, follow all the hygiene rules that are being harped on. No hand to face. Clean surfaces. Etc.
   Oh, and most important of all, finally get on with testing. Whereas in the U.S., we are told not to seek testing unless necessary, in Taiwan they have been much more rigorous. Often, they have taken patients who tested negative, and brought them back in for a second test. If you test everyone who might have the coronavirus, and then quarantine them, that fights the virus about as well as you can. If you don't even know who has the virus, you won't quarantine them.
  No facemasks? Discouraging testing? The U.S. is not going the same direction as Taiwan on a number of points, these being two. We should change course.