Editorial | A transparent review of response to Covid-19 is in Hong Kong’s best interest
- Just like with Sars, an objective, comprehensive and honest assessment of how Hong Kong dealt with the disease is required if we are to avoid another such ordeal
It seems like a distant memory now, but just 20 years ago, in 2003, a mysterious flu-like disease, later known as severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars), swept through Hong Kong and the region, creating panic.
Thankfully, it was put under control after just a few months. Two decades later, a similar threat reared its ugly face – an even more deadly coronavirus that wreaked havoc around the world. It is important that lessons be learned.
Hong Kong was already in crisis when the World Health Organization – on March 13, 2003 – issued a global alert against a nameless “severe form of unknown pneumonia” hitting parts of Asia and elsewhere.
A total of 1,755 people in Hong Kong were infected and 299 died, including eight healthcare workers. The threat was officially declared to be over following the removal of the city from a list of infected areas by the WHO in early June.
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It remains a poignant reminder of how panic, indecision and a lack of preparedness and transparency plunged the city into what was then the most severe public health crisis since reunification with China.
The government at the time, to its credit, tasked a panel of international experts to review the handling of the Sars epidemic.