What do SARS and Cryptocurrency have in common?
SARs (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), is a viral respiratory illness caused by a coronavirus. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) a total of 8,098 people worldwide became sick with SARs during the 2003 outbreak. Of these 774 died.
The first case in Hong Kong was reported on 22th Feb 2003. It took another 2.5 weeks before a WHO worldwide alert was sent, and another 2 weeks for schools in Hong Kong to be closed. By the end of March, house containments were in place, but that did not stop the spreading of the disease which peaked on 20th April, when 12 deaths in a single day were reported.
“History is a tough teacher”, said Peter R. Morgan (VP, Clement Shield; former Assistant Commissioner (Ret.), Hong Kong Police) at the Asia Risk & Resilience Conference 2018, (ARRC 2018, www. arrconference.com, Singapore Hilton, 29th August – 31st August 2018).
The SARs outbreak taught the need for “Improved Preparedness”. This included, according to Mr Morgan, “increased Awareness”, “Effective Plans & SOPs”, “Organisation capacity and readiness”.
Dr. Attila Hertelendy (Professor, Georgetown University), speaking on “Leadership Lessons Learned in Managing Risk and Resilience from the Global Health Security Perspective”, emphasized that “we should embrace a culture of forward-leaning proactivity and the benefits that can be derived from deliberate planning”…Click here to read full article.
