Coronavirus: families seeking compensation say Taiwan deaths could have been avoided

12 families seek an apology and US$2.1 million, saying the government was underprepared, despite a year and a half of pandemic experience elsewhere

Because of the island’s previous success, many doctors did not have any experience in treating Covid-19 patients, says medical professor

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Adams Chi looks at photos of his parents. Chi and others who lost loved ones to outbreaks in Taiwan are angry that their government did not prepare enough. Photo: AP

Published: 1:34pm, 12 Nov 2021Updated: 9:54pm, 12 Nov 2021

It is at lunchtime that Nancy Chen misses her father the most. For 30 years, she ate every day with her parents at their flat. Her father, despite being partially impaired by a stroke, would buy her a box lunch with cod. If she were 15 minutes late, he would worry and ask if she was working too hard.

For the first year and a half of the coronavirus pandemic, it seemed Taiwan would remain largely unscathed by the devastation playing out elsewhere. Aside from near-universal mask wearing, people went about their lives as normal.

But Taiwan was caught off guard when the virus came. The health system could not handle the number of Covid-19 tests needed and doctors lacked the right medications. The death toll rose quickly from just 12 to more than 800.

Chen’s father, who died in June, was one of the victims.

“We never thought it would explode in Taiwan like this,” Chen’s husband, Jason Ding, said in an interview at their home in New Taipei City.

They are among 12 bereaved families seeking an apology and NT$60 million (US$2.1 million) in compensation from the government, saying it was underprepared – despite it being a year and a half into the pandemic – leading to unnecessary deaths and suffering.

Lawyers for the families submitted their case on Thursday to the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Executive Yuan, Taiwan’s cabinet. One of the lawyers, Chen Hsueh-hua, said the families want a public reckoning because they believe their government failed them.