Preparedness and Emergency Responses in the Community

Preparedness and response strategies serve to maintain safety for the community by preparing for possible disasters or disease outbreaks. For example, they have helped to contain and reduce the burden of COVID-19 and mitigate the potential novel challenges and threats posed by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Lessons learned from the severe acute respiratory syndrome epidemic (SARS) in 2003, the swine flu pandemic in 2009, and the middle east respiratory syndrome (MERS) in 2012, have resulted in the city adopting a more ‘proactive’ approach by implementing a series of key emergency responses. Prevention and control measures include (1) early detection, (2) public education and communication, (3) contact tracing, (4) social distancing measures, (5) quarantine orders, (6) vaccination and (7) mask wearing. Strategies evolve daily based on trends in new cases, the emergence of new variants and other potential challenges. A comprehensive analysis of the current strategies to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 would enable the identification of challenges and areas of improvement in existing protocols. Additionally, this chapter will analyse the state of preparedness and emergency responses to COVID-19 in Hong Kong in line with the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s ‘Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SPRP) 2021’. Analysing current strategies being implemented in Hong Kong is key to determining areas of improvement and future research on how to contain and mitigate viral pandemics, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.