Taiwan successfully used viral memes, animal mascots, and teddy bears to fight its coronavirus outbreak — here's the playbook

More than four months after identifying its first coronavirus case, Taiwan has reported less than 450 infections. Only seven people of the country's 24 million have died.

Part of that success in fighting the virus was Taiwan's quick response : The state began to monitor incoming travelers from Wuhan for signs of respiratory illness on December 30, after Chinese ophthalmologist Li Wenliang warned fellow doctors about a possible outbreak resembling SARS. Then in January, Taiwanese officials began isolating every infected patient and tracing their contacts.

But a second key element of Taiwan's strategy was communicating with citizens through humorous stunts and digital campaigns. The state hired comedians to help craft viral memes, adopted animal mascots to inform the public about important safety information, and even used teddy bears to encourage social distancing at restaurants.

Audrey Tang, Taiwan's digital minister, said at the TED 2020 conference that her mantra is "humor over rumor." So Tang developed a strategy for delivering information about the virus in a fast, fair, and fun manner.

"The pandemic in Taiwan actually strengthened our democracy," she added.

Here are some of the whimsical strategies that helped Taiwan avoid a widespread outbreak without a lockdown.

Taiwan's digital ministry consulted with comedians to develop viral campaigns like this one featuring the state's premier, Su Tseng-chang.

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"Comedians are our most cherished colleagues," Tang said.

The cartoon featuring Premier Su Tseng-chang, she explained, reads: "We only have one butt, don't hoard, don't trust rumors." (The words "hoard" and "butt" sound the same in Mandarin.) It was developed in response to a rumor (started by a toilet-paper company) that toilet paper was running low in Taiwan.

"Because of that, the panic-buying died down," Tang said. "Because people think it's hilarious, they share it, but with no malice or toxic intentions."

The state's "spokesdog," a Shiba Inu named Zongchai, delivers safety guidelines to the public.

In the Facebook post above, Zongchai encourages citizens to communicate virtually with friends and friends. In a Valentine's Day post, Zongchai reminded people to wash their hands, stay sober, and practice safe sex.

"What if I am single?" the campaign read. Zongchai joked: "Stay home then!"

Other animal mascots, like this pigeon in a face mask, inform residents about travel restrictions.

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The above cartoon, posted on Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Facebook page, announced a travel ban in February for foreigners who had traveled to China within the prior two weeks.

Tang said digital campaigns are accessible to the entire state: "In Taiwan, we have broadband as a human right."

Some Taiwanese restaurants have placed teddy bears on chairs to make sure people sit at least 6 feet apart.

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The trend isn't exclusive to Taiwan restaurants in Germany and the US have adopted the strategy as well. But, unlike those nations, Taiwan never closed its bars, restaurants, or retail stores.

Instead of closing schools, Taiwan separated students with plastic partitions.

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Some scientists have pointed to Taiwan's low case count as evidence that school closures might be unnecessary to reduce transmission.

Life-size cardboard cutouts mimicked the presence of fans at Taiwanese baseball and soccer games.

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The games were closed to the public in April, though fans were allowed to return to stadiums in early May as long as they maintained social distance and wore face masks.

A colorful map lets people know where to find face masks at nearby pharmacies.

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National Land Surveying and Mapping Center

Tang said the map is updated every 30 seconds. A color-coded system indicates the level of supply at each pharmacy: Green means the pharmacy is fully stocked, yellow means it has more than 40% supply, pink means it has more than 20% supply, and red means the pharmacy is running low (20% or less).

Taiwanese residents can get free masks through their health insurance, though they can't choose the color.

Taiwan originally limited the masks to three per week for each insurance cardholder, then starting April 9, cardholders have been able to get nine masks every two weeks.

After some male students were reportedly bullied for wearing pink masks to school, Taiwan's male health officials wore pink masks to a press conference on April 13.

"It's fine for a man to wear pink," Chen Shih-chung, the state's minister of health and welfare, said at the conference. "Pink is for everyone."

Taiwanese residents can also ask their Google assistant scientific questions. If the chatbot doesn't know the answer, Tang said, it will consult a scientific board.

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Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control unveiled the technology on May 22. Citizens can start the conversation with a simple line: "I want to talk to Taiwan CDC."

Tang said this kind of rapid response system has built trust between the government and civil society.

"That is the main point of digital democracy," she said. "Make the state transparent to the citizen, not the citizen transparent to the state."