Humble hero of Sars crisis: 'I was just doing my job'

Despite all his training at police school, Sergeant Ko Wing-cheung could never have envisaged the epidemic that brought Hong Kong to a standstill in 2003.

All eyes had been on the invasion of Saddam Hussein's Iraq, then suddenly the world's media turned its attention to Kowloon Bay - the epicentre of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) outbreak a decade ago.

The city reacted with fear. No one knew much about the silent killer or why the residents at Amoy Gardens, where the outbreak began, were particularly vulnerable to it. As Hong Kong's streets fell silent, Ko and his colleagues across the emergency services swung into action. Some on the front line would die.

When the authorities got to work on the Kowloon Bay estate, 42 of 329 residents infected had already died. In total, 1,755 people across Hong Kong contracted the virus, among whom 299 died.

Police officers tasked with assisting quarantine efforts and other efforts to combat Sars were just doing their job, Ko says, as the disease, and fear of it, became rampant.

"With Sars … the biggest challenge [was that] we didn't know what to expect," he says. "There was nothing we could foresee."