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It's a scenario from which Belizeans, many who live there, are taking a few pointers from. Cherisse Halsall has a story of resilience from halfway across the world.

At the outbreak of the Coronavirus, It was assumed that Taiwan, a country 18 miles away from mainland China, would be one of the worst affected. But that hasn't been the case. It's an interesting case study in what can go right when adequate health measures are put in place. We got a recap from three Belizeans who got to experience Taiwan's efforts first hand.

Diane Haylock, Ambassador of Belize to Taiwan
"One can say that ever since SARS in 2003 that Taiwan has been preparing for another virus. And because of their vigilance they were able to pick up from December that something was happening in China that needed critical attention and therefore in early January they actually sent a couple of doctors to Wuhan to actually try to understand what was going on there and immediately Taiwan put into place it's central Command Center, you know they have their mechanism that they actually put that in place and started the ball rolling very early so that when they had their first case, things were in place for them to manage and ultimately contain the virus."

Phillip Codd has spent the last four years as a student in Taiwan and while he had to make many adjustments on arrival he says that this year brought on even more extreme adjustments.

Phillip Codd Jr., Outgoing President, Belize Taiwan Association Committee
"Taiwan really put up their guard they took a lot of measures from early. Actually when they started to take measures they started with the alcohol spraying. It's something that we weren't used to as Belizeans, because I am sure we wouldn't go to that extent from the beginning, but they took that precautionary measure from the get-go and from then they controlled the virus from that time it started. To be honest Taiwan has been doing a really good job like protecting us. Anybody that enters the country has to undergo a 14-day quarantine."

It was much the same for engineering student Asher Canto who went from a skeptic to a diligent hand washer.

Asher Canto, Incoming, Belize President of the Belize Taiwanese Association
"I remember at the start I wasn't very concerned, If I'm being honest I took that quote-unquote cruffy behavior with me where I said I'm not gonna get sick, I'm fine I drink my Vitamin C, but after I did some more research watching both local and international news I said yeah this is pretty serious and I started to adhere to the mask the handwashing, the protocols that the government was putting in place at the time."

"For the start it was very transparent the director of Taiwan's CDC everyday would go out and say who was infected, where they were infected and mapped out on the map gave us an app that we could use to track where those people were and your location relative to them so it didn't create a sense of frantic behavior."

It's remarkably calm behavior in the face of the nation's proximity to the epicentre of the highly infectious virus. But in truth, Taiwan's low numbers have reassured citizens that their government's efforts are paying off.

Diane Haylock, Ambassador of Belize to Taiwan
"To date it has had 446 confirmed cases of the virus, only 7 deaths and as we speak there are only five persons who are still active so if you look at those statistics it's really, really, really amazing."

But it hasn't all been amazing because the people of Taiwan like many others became wary of foreigners at the height of the pandemic.

Phillip Codd Jr., Outgoing President, Belize Taiwan Association Committee
"With this virus it came with a little bit of discrimination from certain Taiwanese people in the sense that they think that like the virus is a foreigner thing and it was very disturbing, because I have friends that have been rejected from certain places because they say you are a foreigner so you be carrying the virus and stuff like that and it was pretty weird. I actually come across it once like they didn't want to deal with me because I am a foreigner and they might think I have Corona virus, its sensitive to share these things because might not experience it, but for those who experienced it like It's really weird."

Asher Canto, Incoming, Belize President of the Belize Taiwanese Association
"It was upsetting at least at the basis I was upset about it because that wasn't true and I was glad when all that was resolved and it showed that it wasn't a matter of race or anything it was just a sickness that needed to be controlled and we needed everyone's help to work together to get it done."

And what does the Pandemic mean for the next batch of students headed to Taiwan?

Diane Haylock, Ambassador of Belize to Taiwan
"To date I know that from one scholarship, the main scholarship program ICDF that already 33 persons have been officially accepted to the program in fact in terms of that scholarship there are about 29 persons who are on an alternate list so it certainly has not stopped Belizeans from applying. The Taiwan government to my mind is still in the process of working out how they will allow those scholarship persons to enter Taiwan."

Reporter
"If there was somebody who wanted to go right maybe to apply to next year cycle, but its nervous, what would you say to them?"

Phillip Codd Jr.
"Generically we would say come but to be honest and this is coming from a clean heart, Taiwan is one of the better places to study out of all the countries. Why, because the government really cracked down on things here and what I mean by that is there is no law that can be broken that you could slide with. Like they really put everything in place and people follow and comply."

Taiwan has been applauded internationally for quickly and effectively stemming the spread of the virus and says it should have a platform to share its experiences with the world at the World Health Organization.

However, China - which says Taiwan is part of its territory - has blocked Taiwan's admission.