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  • [♪♪]

  • [David] School's out but it's nowhere near summer yet.

  • And it's starting to look like things may stay that way for a

  • very long time.

  • In Taiwan, we're about to spend a day at school with Peggy and

  • her mom Lee-li to find out if what's happening there would

  • ever work in Canada.

  • [♪♪]

  • [David] Here the government extended the school break and

  • closed schools for only 2 weeks.

  • Now, school's back in, and Peggy's school is taking

  • some extra measures to keep kids safe.

  • Temperatures taken.

  • Hands and shoes sanitized on the way inside.

  • Lee-li is also a teacher at Peggy's school.

  • [David] Students gather for an assembly.

  • Today, it's a 101 on germs and COVID-19.

  • Even an excerpt of Matt Damon from the movie "Contagion".

  • Nothing's perfect.

  • Not all the kids remember to wear their masks.

  • My name is Robin.

  • I'm from Minnesota in the USA and I'm here at Dajia as a

  • Fulbright English teaching assistant.

  • [Robin] The washing hands seems to be really crucial,

  • and I love how this school has announcements.

  • At the beginning of each class period,

  • the students usually don't enter the classroom until a minute in

  • to class because they are all busy washing their

  • hands outside.

  • [David] An added measure at Peggy's school?

  • This girl's name is Mabel but her official title?

  • "Student chief disinfectant officer".

  • And at lunch time?

  • [Robin] I love how the school sets up the yellow divider

  • boards to keep students a little bit separated from each other's

  • air space.

  • [David] The government provided thermometers,

  • disinfectants, and face masks to all schools.

  • Hi, David.

  • [David] Hello, minister.

  • Taiwan's Minister of Foreign Affairs is Joseph Wu.

  • What are the measures that you found worked well for Taiwan?

  • Taiwan's case may not be applicable to all other

  • countries, especially for those countries that are hit very

  • hard already.

  • The reason why Taiwan is more successful than other countries

  • is because we responded quickly.

  • [David] Back on December 31, Taiwan began to assess people on

  • flights from Wuhan for symptoms and soon after,

  • increased production on supplies like masks and sanitizers.

  • Taiwan also tracked people with a risk of infection through

  • cell phones to make sure they stayed home.

  • I feel so much safer here, especially knowing that here,

  • the government actually knows where all of the cases are.

  • [David] That kind of tracking might not be possible in Canada.

  • But our government wants people to stay home too,

  • and just ordered mandatory quarantine for all travellers,

  • with fines up to 750,000, even jail time.

  • I'm Skyping with Toronto epidemiologist Dr. Isaac Bogoch.

  • [David] Does he think Canada should have adopted

  • Taiwan's approach?

  • [David] But he does say there's no excuse for not having enough

  • tests and medical supplies.

  • [David] Experts say Canada's approach of physical distancing

  • will work if we all actually do it.

  • What would be the most important thing you would tell

  • Canada right now?

  • I would say that... try to educate the public.

  • Hand washing or personal hygiene is very important for

  • the public.

  • [David] But even in a place as prepared as Taiwan,

  • now a second wave.

  • More than 100 new cases.

  • Mostly from travellers.

  • [David] What do you hope will happen in the future?

  • [David] One thing we all have in common is hope to beat

  • this pandemic.

  • [♪♪]

[♪♪]

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