How Taiwan became a coronavirus success story

While the UK government’s response to coronavirus has been widely-criticised, Taiwan has seen fewer than 500 cases of Covid-19 and only seven deaths. For this special IfG Live event, the Taiwanese Digital Minister, Audrey Tang, joined us to explain how the country has contained the virus so successfully without a nationwide 'lockdown'. The minister discussed how Taiwan's existing strength in digital government and experience of the SARS outbreak in 2003 enabled it to respond rapidly, co-ordinating work across government, drawing on innovation in the private sector and civil society, and countering disinformation to keep the public well-informed. Audrey Tang was in conversation with Gavin Freeguard, Programme Director and Head of Data and Transparency at the Institute for Government.