Interview Excerpt

Interviewee details
Interviewee	Dr Tsang Ho Fai, Thomas
Job title during SARS	Consultant (Community Medicine), Department of Health, Government of the Hong Kong SAR
Appointment held at time of interview	(Between appointments)
Language / Dialect	Cantonese

Summary of interview Dr. Tsang was a Consultant in community medicine in the Government Department of Health, and had received special training in the US in Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) following the Avian influenza H5N1 outbreak in Hong Kong in 1997. When SARS broke out in March 2003 by infecting large numbers of health care workers at the Prince of Wales Hospital (PWH), he was assigned to assist the communicable diseases section of the Government Department of Health in investigating the outbreak.
He relates in detail how he helped to investigate the PWH outbreak, then retrospectively, the earlier outbreak at the Metropole Hotel and finally at the Amoy Gardens estate. Through careful investigation of cases, tracing of contacts and environmental testing with the assistance of WHO experts, he helped to map out the mode of transmission and special features of SARS. As a result, the Government’s decision to evacuate residents from Block E of Amoy Gardens for isolation proved to be the turning point in disease control.
The experiences he went through helped him learn how to maintain hope in times of adversity, to be confident in solving problems and in realizing the importance of communication with the public, where the attitude taken may be more important than the actual words that were spoken.