June 23, 2003: Hong Kong free of Sars, WHO declares

With the passing of 20 days since the last case was put into isolation, the chain of infections was considered broken, the WHO said

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Large-scale cleaning operations were carried out at a number of housing estates badly affected by Sars. Photo: Martin Chan

Published: 2:30pm, 14 Jun 2022

This article was first published in the South China Morning Post on June 24, 2003. It has been republished online as part of Hong Kong 25, which looks at how the city has changed since the handover, and what its future holds.

By Jimmy Cheung, Chow Chung-yan and Benjamin Wong

Hong Kong is ready to spend $1 billion to rebuild its battered image and lure back tourists and businesses after it was officially declared free of Sars by the World Health Organisation yesterday.

Officials said the announcement was the trigger for a campaign aimed at promoting Hong Kong as the best place for visitors and business in Asia.

The programmes include a $400 million tourism drive over the next nine months. Free airline tickets, hotel offers and restaurants discounts are up for grabs.

In a statement at 3pm, the WHO’s executive director of communicable diseases, David Heymann, said: “This is very significant achievement. Hong Kong, with its dense population and fluid border with China, had one of the hardest outbreaks to control. This success means that the world can now feel safer from the Sars threat.”

With the passing of 20 days since the last case was put into isolation, the chain of infections was considered broken, the WHO said.

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