Source:
Distinguished Professor Chia-Lin Chang
Vice President for International Affairs, NCHU

The year 2020 was filled with challenges and difficulties because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Under the “New Normal” situation caused by the pandemic, every institution of tertiary education in Taiwan is obliged to make full use of technologies and scientific strategies to overcome the effects of COVID-19. We feel obligated to share our experiences and best practice on scientific strategies and health education in the “NCHU ARCH” magazine with our partner universities overseas.

The core of NCHU’s Scientific Control is as follows:

1. Possess instant national and international information on COVID-19;
2. Establish pre-emptive actions and standard precautions;
3. Provide correct public health measures for personal protection; and
4. Promote preventative measures with CARE and EMPATHY.

Based on the number of locally confirmed cases, seasonal factors (such as Christmas and New Year) raise the community’s mobility risk, and domestic and international spread situation, NCHU created four epidemic prevention timelines, namely “high risk I”, “low risk”, “potential risk”, and “high risk II” periods, with prevention measures for each period that are closely linked to the core of NCHU’s Scientific Control.

Epidemiologist Dr. Chao-Chin Chang, Distinguished Professor, Graduate Institute of Microbiology and Public Health, NCHU, advised that NCHU Scientific Control should strictly implement “self-detection”, “self-protection”, and “prevention” in three phases. Moreover, facing the recent rapid spread rate of the pandemic situation in Taiwan, he also advises to maintain a positive attitude and self-management, as follows:
 

1. Avoid unnecessary visits to crowded places;
2. Wear masks at all times;
3. Wash your hands / sanitize your hands regularly and thoroughly;
4. Family members and friends should show EMPATHY and CARE toward each other, and check their body temperatures daily.

In order to ensure that students and faculty are protected and risk managed carefully, NCHU has created a safe and secure environment for work and study. The NCHU Scientific Control and preventative measures include: regular health monitoring through the NCHU real-name system that can track individual health conditions; relevant information dissemination about COVID-19; periodic cleaning and disinfection of the school environment; and efficient allocation of preventative supplies and resources.

NCHU Distance Education continuously delivers a high quality of instruction, where conducive learning is not forfeited during the pandemic. These include the functional distance teaching system through online classes, synchronous teaching, scheduling of a series of webinars for students, offering different online software for distance teaching; and delivery of internship courses, especially for veterinary medical students following minimum health protocols;

1. providing examinations for graduate program admissions, while limiting the number of participants at examination venues;
2. minimizing the time of entering university through working remotely;
3. working from home scheme;
4. large-scale activities, such as employment expo, have been conducted online, following best practice public healthcare, such as personal hygiene, mask-wearing, and social distancing.

It is recognized and appreciated that staff of NCHU have participated courageously in the unrelenting battle against COVID-19. Moreover, NCHU will ensure the implementation of effective scientific measures for the welfare of overseas students to continue their education in Taiwan, and to maintain close relationships with our partner universities worldwide.

Notes:

1. On 11 March 2021, President Dr. Fuh-Sheng Hsieu, NCHU, was invited by the Foundation for International Cooperation in Higher Education of Taiwan (FICHET) to share experiences in scientific epidemic prevention of NCHU at the “2021 Taiwan-Australia Higher Education Network Forum”.
2. On 11 April 2021, Dr. Chia-Chang, NCHU, Vice-President for International Affairs, was invited by the FICHET to share the university epidemic prevention at the “Taiwan-Russia Higher Education Online Roundtable”.
3. The Office of International Affairs would like to express their sincerest gratitude to Distinguished Professor Chao-Chin Chang, Graduate Institute of Microbiology and Public Health, NCHU, for providing his professional advice, helpful comments and suggestions with regards to epidemiology.

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