Government Response to Handling Covid-19 Study Comparation: Lessons Learned from Taiwan and Indonesia

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused infections cases and deaths of people, damaged healthcare systems, and declining economies. All countries have responded the pandemic through various policies. The study aims to compare the response of the Taiwan and the Indonesian in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic. Qualitative methods are used by adopting a multi-case approach in Taiwan and Indonesia. The data collection technique relies on literature studies sourced from scientific journals, online media, and government policy documents. The data were analyzed using a qualitative descriptive technique involving data reduction and data displaying. The study found that the Taiwan Government was successful because of the government's rapid responses to deal with the Covid-19, even before the first case was detected. The government implemented some efforts to contain the virus: closing entrances in border areas, detecting infected people through massive tests, tracking out infection cases using digital technology, enforcing sanctions to prevent disinformation, reinforcing the compliance of the citizen to the quarantine policies, and maintaining effective communications with its citizen. Meanwhile, the Covid-19 handling in Indonesia was relatively slow. At the beginning, the public officials' denials of the virus existence has caused some problems, such as disharmony between the central and local government and weak coordination, the inconsistency of border entrances policies, limited medical personnel and personal protective equipment, the expensive PCR testing, limited infected tracking, the weak sanctions, and the effectiveness of the government communication.