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The coronavirus is bringing ghosts of the past to Hong Kong. Still, the city is ready to deal with the virus, said Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, during a conference at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
First discovered less than a month ago, the new virus of the coronavirus family has killed approximately 18 people and infected more than 650 patients worldwide. In China, where 639 cases have been confirmed, major cities are quarantined, and Lunar New Year celebrations have dropped.
“Hong Kong has learned from its past,” Lam told the audience during an informal event at the WEF on Thursday. She added, “We have already paid a huge price for this deadly disease that we faced 17 years ago, and since then, we have grown a robust and resilient system.”
In 2003, the city went through an outbreak of SARS. In less than three months, over 1,750 cases were reported, and 286 people died of the illness, severe acute respiratory syndrome, according to information provided by the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.
“I’m cautiously confident that the system we have built … will get us out of this current situation,” Lam suggested.
She also demonstrated that there are ready isolation wards in medical facilities. According to her, two coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Hong Kong.