Town of Epidemical Disease

                        

" The increasing of infected patients has hit a higher number" said a news reporter on TV.  Everyone was frightened during the epidemical disease "SARS" when it had spread in Hong Kong.  SARS is another terrible type of pneumonia.  The symptoms of SARS are coughing, fever and even vomiting blood in serious cases.  SARS can be found in infected domestic fowl and birds.  It was proven that, the first patient who was found infected had eaten raccoon meat while he was on a trip in China.  There are none boosters or vaccines to resist SARS in today's medical technology.  The government convinced the citizens not to be afraid of SARS, and created several steps to provide a better environment for its citizens.  All we could do against the virus was maintain better lifestyle, living environment and face the problem positively.  It had affected people's lifestyles, the sense of sanitation, and the image of the city, but it also united the government and the citizens to protect the society.

 

Therefore, everyone n Hong Kong had changed their lifestyles to prevent the disease.  The government convinced the citizens that they needed to maintain a clean, zero infective environment against SARS.  The legislative department accessed the related law strictly such as not allowing people to throw garbage anywhere except garbage cans.  The penalty which is still in place is up to $1500 Hk dollars.  I paid much attention not to drop anything on the ground in public place because I would have been caught and had to pay a fine.  I also wore a mask everyday to decrease the chance of being infected.  The healthy department of the city also installed disinfection stations in every mall and in public transportation center.  They provided free mini tests to examine the body temperature and send anyone who was infected to the hospital immediately.  People also attached the importance of their health such as the dietetic hygience, like avoiding eating any fowl or any animals.  People motivated themselves to do aerobic exercises, so they could retain a stronger body for resistance, I tried to walk instead of taking buses if in a short distance.  The Government and citizens were keeping up to rebuild a healthier environment to save the society.

Furthermore, the relationship of government and citizens had become tight and compact. Everyone tried to unit together and protect our society. The government proposed some strategies against the disease to stop the increase of infected people, to heal them and suppress the fear of citizens. They figured it was unnecessary to conceal the problems from the people because they can't solve the problems by themselves. Then they promised the citizens that they would never hide and be honest to everyone if any incident happens. The attitude of public servants who worked on the frontline such as doctors, nurses and Ashmans were highly honored. They even made sacrifices to the society to save people's lives. Some of them died because they got infected when they were on duty. Moreover, they could have had a choice to avoid infection but they didn't give up. The behavior of everyone against SARS showed us that we need to be united to save our society.

Moreover, the image of Hong Kong had been destroyed when SARS spread. The title of Hong Kong in the nation had been changed to " the town of epidemical disease" and no one wanted to visit Hong Kong during that period. The decrease of tourists caused economic problems to the most likely tourist business city in Asia/ China. We didn't even want to stay in public area , so we wouldn't get infected by accident. Then the income of many stores suddenly got dropped in a straight line. SARS also spread fears to other nations because anyone who entered or departed from Hong Kong need to be separate from the public for ten days to examine if they were infected. For example, my mother forbade my sister who was in the U.S. to come back to Hong Kong during that period. The visitors who wanted to come to Hong Kong also refused to visit in that time. All of the above had ruined the reputation of Hong Kong, and government needed to overcome the barrier to rally the society again.

Accordingly, people who live in Hong Kong have learned a precious experience of the maintenance of the society from the appearance of SARS. There are positive and negative effects of this incident. Some people suffered by losing their relatives, loved ones or their support on everything. In addition, SARS also affected the habit of everyone's lifestyles. In contrast, we learned a new lesson from the relationship between people and the society. Even though some people had paid the extreme cost for this lesson, we eventually experienced the value of this incident, which is that people from the same place need to be united, so they can be stronger to protect themselves.