SARS: The Epidemic That Shook Hong Kong

Ten years ago today the World Health Organization raised an alarm over an unidentified, highly infectious disease. Veteran Reuters cameraman Gary Ling explains what it was like on the front lines.

Published

2 months ago

Categories

Health

Topics

Disease & Health Conditions

People

Gary Ling

Places

China, Hong Kong

Transcript

(SOUNDBITE) (English) REUTERS TV CAMERAMAN, GARY LING, SAYING: There were many memorable pictures in my mind. In the past ten years the pictures keep flashing back. The Chinese doctor who was supposedly the "super carrier" of the virus, he came to Hong Kong to attend a wedding banquet. And then he stayed in this Metropole Hotel. And later the WHO people traced the travel history of several patients from different countries - they were all staying in the same hotel. This Metropole Hotel. That was the source of the virus. In fact, at that time I thought there was a good chance that I could, you know, get infected and die. Every day I was going to these infected areas, especially The Prince of Wales (hospital). I went to the 8th floor. There were many SARS patients. It was regarded as the most dangerous area. Well, I never saw so many people so desperate. At that time it looks like Hong Kong had no more future. This is the epicenter. People wouldn't travel to Hong Kong to do business. What would happen to Hong Kong's economy? It totally collapsed. Most of the restaurants were so empty. People were so helpless. We couldn't see the end of the tunnel, really. There were many SARS cases at the Amoy Gardens. In one particular building, the government decided that they want to isolate the residents from that building to prevent any further outbreak in the community. There was lots of police movement, putting up barricades around the building. They were all wearing protective gear, it looked really serious. That was something really unforgettable. They started to move the residents from Block E to the buses. The pictures there were so striking, because we saw all these residents look so sad and helpless. And these people were so innocent, the Amoy Gardens people. I still remember the picture of a little boy looking out from the car, from the bus. And he didn't know what to do. She was a very popular doctor, and she was very young and good-looking. So many people felt so sad for her, because she was supposed to have a very bright future. Actually I was so angry with the government. They should have done better. Much, much better. In the beginning they tried to cover it up. They wanted to play down the whole thing, pretending there was nothing serious that happened. As a cameraman I think my job is to try to expose the dangers of this virus. I want to make sure the government is giving the correct information to the public, to tell the public how to protect themselves. If people didn't know how to protect themselves, more people people would be infected by the virus. And many of them, of course, would die. ENDS