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    How Hong Kong Beat SARS: Lessons Learned

    As Hong Kong deals with the new coronavirus, citizens and scientists recall the SARS outbreak 17 years ago — and what it took to defeat the disease.
    by Jason Beaubien Feb 04, 2020 5 minutes
    School was suspended for six weeks in Hong Kong as part of the strategy to keep SARS from spreading. On May 12, 2003, primary school children returned to class amid signs that the outbreak was coming under control.

    As the new coronavirus outbreak spreads around the world, Hong Kong is bracing for a possible surge in cases. The city so far only has 18 cases but its first death from the disease was confirmed on Tuesday – a 39-year-old man who had visited Wuhan, China.

    Residents are particularly on edge because many of them lived through the devastating SARS outbreak in 2003. Hong Kong suffered 299 deaths from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, the most anywhere outside of China. SARS crippled the city's economy. The concern now is that this latest outbreak might do the same.

    SARS: A 911 Moment

    In Hong Kong, memories of SARS are surfacing in the wake of this new outbreak.

    One of the key moments in the first pandemic of the 21st century came on the February 21, 2003, when Liu Jianlun arrived in Hong Kong. He'd come to the city to visit relatives. Liu

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