Yes, Taiwan implemented their own MORE STRINGENT rules in advance of anyone in the international community advising that they do so. So did Vietnam, which also had very few cases. These countries knew from southeast Asia's own experience with SARS-1 16 years before. In some areas of southeast Asia, the population took it upon themselves to start wearing masks before anyone told them to do so.
There is no question that the WHO was slow to react. There is no question that their early communication was misguided. There is no question that we (including Dr Tam) were slow to react in Canada and made some mis-steps. In our defense (and that of the WHO) ... we (collectively) didn't know anywhere near as much then as we do now.
Using these early mistakes to justify not following the much more educated, but still imperfect, guidance that we have today ... is pretty short-sighted.
We don't know everything there is to know about this virus. We KNOW we don't know everything there is to know. So that warrants doing nothing about it? We know enough about it that we need to do something, however imperfect that may be, to slow its spread. Wait for the "perfect" solution to arrive, and you'll be dead before it shows up.
The UK is going into a month-long lockdown. The authorities didn't want to do it, but it became apparent that they had to. Are we next?
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