Editorial | Lessons learned from pandemic can bolster response to next one
Post series reveals that Hong Kong has much to learn and digest from the deadly Covid-19 outbreak which wreaked havoc on the city
More than 20 years ago the government set up a panel of international experts to inquire into the handling of the Sars epidemic. Its report led to improvements to healthcare for infectious diseases. The Hospital Authority and the Legislative Council also held inquiries.
But the city moved on from the Covid-19 pandemic without any such inquiry. Resisting it, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said officials had been reviewing and improving their responses along the way.
So the city did not get to hear evidence from experts in the front line of the battle against Covid. However, some who might have assisted any inquiry were interviewed for the recent Post series marking five years since Hong Kong recorded its first case of Covid-19.
It was a chance to reflect on how the city might be better prepared next time it faces a public health crisis. In moving on from such a traumatic experience it is important lessons learned are not forgotten.
The city contained the virus for two years with stringent control measures, only to later record the world’s highest death rate amid a fifth wave of infection in 2022.
The authorities may now be far better prepared for an epidemic like Sars. But Covid still exposed weaknesses and inadequacies in the official strategies and responses.
