Article Reflection

Article:  Hong Kong and SARS: A city under siege

            The article, namely Hong Kong and SARS: A city under siege, was written by Kevin Voigt and published upon CNN. This essay will focus on answering a number of questions based on the article that has been chosen by me. The article will be summarized, with its newsworthy material being discussed. Then, the historic background, which is being referenced in the article, will be discussed. Finally, my own reflection as to why I chose this article will be discussed briefly.

Firstly, Voigt’s article summarizes Voigt’s experience during the SARS pandemic while living on an island off of the city of Hong Kong. Voigt recalls as to how deadly the virus was and how it began from a Chinese border province, namely Guangdong. The article then relates to the deadly spread of the virus on a global scale and how it was quickly grasping many deaths at the time. The article’s first half illustrates the environment that was present in and around Hon Kong at the time of the virus’ prime and how no one was able to figure out what the virus was and how quickly it was reaching other destinations around the world (Voigt). The article then relates to the economic and political problems that erupted in Southeast Asia, primarily in China and Hong Kong, where unemployment levels rose drastically and real estate value fell to nothing.

In the second half of the article, Voigt changes his tone in the negative aspects of the virus and turns toward the positive aspects that can be given by the same virus outbreak. The author relates as to how the virus was quickly contained and how the pandemic was quarantined far more quickly than other plagues that have grasped the human population in the past, such as HIV/AIDS and the black plague. At the end of the article, Voigt claims that the panic that had arisen initially from the virus was key to solving and containing the virus so quickly since all nations around the world became aware of the problem at large.

Secondly, the newsworthy context will be discussed in regard to the article. First of all, he article’s newsworthy updates are the importance of violent and aggressive epidemics that occur on a global stage. These epidemics are the main focus of the article and their severe influences over the various economic and societal impacts are also newsworthy in the article. Furthermore, the detailed effects and the ways as well as methods to solve such effects are also discussed in the newsworthy article. Hence, it also allows people to empathize and relate to the victims and people who were held in quarantine and isolation within Hong Kong during the epidemic.

Thirdly, the historic context and background of the article will be discussed. The SARS was a syndrome and violent as well as aggressive virus that had spread across the globe within days of its exposure to human beings. The virus was a global threat ad therefore, it can directly be related to world history in the manner that it was an important part of world history since it impacted globally and was remembered even after a decade had passed by. Furthermore, the epidemic is seen to have largely affected people of all ages and ethnic backgrounds. Therefore, it can be said that this was an event that allowed the world to work together and act as a central state of force against an unknown attack that would not be mentioned earlier on. Moreover, the viral pandemic was supposed to be relevant to worldwide plagues but was the first one in a long time to affect so many people at such a large scale with such a high death tll in such little time. The fact that this pandemic was tackled in a frenzy of panic is also worth noting in world history since it was the quickest response to a global threat in centuries. Yet again, the event is also notable for world history since several important events had taken place before and after the worldwide pandemic. The historic world event that took place before the pandemic were the September 11^th bombings while the historic world event that took place after the pandemic was the Iraq invasion by the United States of America in the following months of the SARS pandemic.

Finally, it will be discusses as to why I selected this article, why it interests me and how it is tied to world history. As mentioned earlier, the event ties to world history since it affected thirty nations across all continents, and therefore, making it a worldwide pandemic with lives lost across the world, along with injuries across the world. The reason why it interests me is the fact that it was a global plague like many others in world history. However, it is the first viral disease that has been dealt with so swiftly and with such allied unison. It allowed people to cooperate with one another, put their differences aside and work together in stopping a mutual and unknown threat. The humane actions, which are rarely noticed in world history, were the primal factor in the eradication of this new disease that was spreading so violently around the world.

Therefore, it is discussed as to why the article was chosen and why it interests me. It is also discussed as to what contextual and historical background the article provides. The article’s relevance to world history is also briefly discussed while the article is briefly summarized. Hence, it can be concluded that while the article is purely accurate in historical context, I is interesting because it shows a side of human nature during crisis which is rarely mentioned or observed throughout the existing context of world history.

Works Cited

Voigt, Kevin. “Hong Kong and SARS: A city under siege.” 21 February 2013. CNN. Electronic Web. 8 March 2015.