Jakarta (Indonesia Window) - The new Coronavirus that has spread globally since the end of December 2019 has made medical masks rare and expensive, including those in Indonesia.

Using masks in public areas, especially closed places such as airports, railway stations and public vehicles, as well as washing hands with anti-septic fluids regularly have been suggested by the Taiwanese Government to all people on the Formosa Island which is geographically close to China from where the virus originated.

In order to regulate the purchase of health masks in a proportionate way to avoid imbalances between supply and demand along with the outbreak, the Taiwan Government held a national mask sale and launched the purchase by "real name system" on 6 February 2020.

A statement from the Taipei Economic and Trade Office (TETO) received in Jakarta on Tuesday said that everyone can go to pharmacies and health centers with a "health insurance card" to buy masks according to the allotted quota.

In this way, the public should not worry about running out of masks, and prices are expected not to rise as arbitrarily as in other countries.

The same right to buy a health mask is also applied to 300,000 Indonesian citizens and other foreign nationals in Taiwan with a residence permit or health insurance card.

The statement emphasized that Taiwan was not part of China, and was not part of the epidemic region originating from Wuhan.

The Taiwanese government is grateful to Indonesia for clearly distinguishing between Taiwan and mainland China in dealing with the epidemic case.

Taiwan urges all countries in the world not to receive misinformation from the World Health Organization (WHO) which includes Taiwan in the epidemic region of China so as to take unreasonable action by banning Taiwan flights and restricting Taiwan's entry into several countries.

Health

In the new Coronavirus outbreak, WHO initially considered that Taiwan and Thailand were the two most diverse countries.

However, the number of cases in Taiwan turned out to be far less than those  in many developed countries as the system and health care implemented on the Formosa Island was very good.

According to the Numbeo website, Taiwan's Health Care Index 2020 is at the top with 86.71 points, followed by South Korea and Japan.

Taiwan also ranked first in the world last year with medical standards that have long been recognized internationally.

Reporting by Indonesia Window