臺灣嚴重特殊傳染性肺炎(COVID-19)非藥物介入措施執行概況

2019年底中國爆發COVID-19疫情，隨著國際交流頻繁，傳染病個案跨境移動，導致全球大流行，世界衛生組織(World Health Organization, WHO) 2020年1月30日宣布嚴重特殊傳染性肺炎(COVID-19)為國際公共衛生緊急事件(Public Health Emergency of International Concern, PHEIC)，同年3月11日宣布為全球大流行。由於疫病初期尚無疫苗及藥物能治療或預防SARS-CoV-2感染，各國紛紛採取非藥物介入措施(Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions, NPIs)作為初期防治策略，以利爭取疫苗及藥物研發時間。然而，面臨SARS-CoV-2病毒株不斷變異及國際疫情持續升溫，針對不同變異株的傳播力、疾病表現及致病嚴重程度，應採取相對防治措施。疫情初期，我國尚未出現大規模本土疫情，期間積極宣導民眾落實個人衛生、提倡防疫新生活，並制訂多項防治措施指引供民眾參考，以強化國人防疫概念。2021年隨境外確診人數攀升，我國爆發本土流行疫情，為嚴防傳染病於社區蔓延，訂有多項嚴格社區管制措施，並視疫情狀況滾動式調整，所幸在國人與政府的努力下，疫情逐漸獲得控制。後期因病毒變異株特性與初期已有顯著性差異，感染者多為輕症或無症狀，為使國人逐步回歸正常生活，開始陸續鬆綁各項管制措施，邁入經濟防疫新模式。期能以本次經驗作為未來新興傳染病防疫之借鏡，以供快速應變參考。

At the end of 2019, an outbreak of pneumonia caused by SARS-CoV-2 emerged in China. With frequent international exchanges and cross-border movement of infected individuals, this led to a global pandemic. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), and on March 11, 2020, COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. With no drugs or vaccines available to treat or prevent SARS-CoV-2 infections in the early phase of the pandemic, countries around the world adopted non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to buy time while awaiting vaccine and drug development. However, as SARS-CoV-2 continued to mutate and the pandemic worsened, control measures needed to be adjusted based on the transmissibility, disease presentation, and disease severity of various viral variants. In the early phase of the pandemic, Taiwan managed to avoid large-scale outbreaks. During this period, the government actively promoted personal hygiene practices, advocated for a new lifestyle centered on epidemic prevention, and formulated various guidelines to strengthen public understanding of disease prevention measures. By 2021, with the increasing number of imported cases, Taiwan experienced an outbreak. To prevent the spread of the disease in the community, Taiwan implemented stringent control measures and adjusted them based on the evolving epidemic situation. Because of the concerted efforts of the public and the government, the epidemic was brought under control. In the later phase of the pandemic, as the virus variants displayed significantly different characteristics compared to earlier strains, most infected individuals had mild symptoms or were asymptomatic. To gradually return to normal life, Taiwan relaxed various control measures, moving towards a new model of economic epidemic prevention. The lessons learned from this pandemic are expected to serve as a reference for rapid response to future emerging infectious diseases.