A COVID-19 Lockdown Tabletop Exercise in New Taipei City, Taiwan

OBJECTIVES: This exercise aimed to validate New Taipei City’s strategic plan for a city lockdown in response to coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The main goal of all solutions was the principle of “reducing citizen activity and strengthening government control.” METHODS: We created a suitable exercise, creating 15 hypothetical situations for 3 stages. All participating units designed and proposed policy plans and execution protocols according to each situation. RESULTS: In the course of the exercise, many existing policies and execution protocols were validated. These addressed (1) situations occurring in Stage 1, when the epidemic was spreading to the point of lockdown preparations; (2) approaches to curb the continued spread of the epidemic in Stage 2; and (3) returning to work after the epidemic was controlled and lockdown lifted in Stage 3. Twenty response units participated in the exercise. Although favorable outcomes were obtained, the evaluators provided comments suggesting further improvements. CONCLUSIONS: Our exercise demonstrated a successful example to help policy-making and revision in a large city of over 4 million people during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also enhanced participants’ subject knowledge and familiarity with the implementation of a city lockdown. For locations intending to go into lockdown, similar tabletop exercises are an effective verification option.