Study Buddy (Challenger): Hong Kong’s Covid-19 response hailed as a global model

[3] Grais told the SCMP earlier this month at the Philanthropy for Better Cities Forum that the world had yet to learn its lessons from Covid-19. “One of the best ways to be prepared is to rebuild and work on trust,” said Grais, who is also a member of an advisory group of the World Health Organization. “Scientists are people, and people have a tendency to disclose, to trust other people, and to share when they know someone else.”

[4] She said building those connections among individuals could help with data sharing and improving best practices. Grais added that trust was important for handling infectious diseases that were “crossing national borders,” and establishing networks among scientists could be an “antidote” to many problems, including pandemics.

[5] Grais said not enough information is being shared among scientists from different countries. “There are language barriers; there are technology barriers in many countries. There’s not necessarily access to the internet or high-speed internet. There are different silos of information.”

[6] Grais recalled how the University of Hong Kong-Pasteur Research Pole, a member of the Pasteur Network, managed to quickly share information related to Covid-19 with the rest of the world during the early phase of the pandemic. She said the research centre’s co-director, Professor Leo Poon Lit-man, did the right thing by sharing information promptly. “I would hope that there are many more Leo Poons,” she said.

[7] Poon told the SCMP that his team managed to develop tests to detect Covid-19 in patients and shared the information with other laboratories in January 2020. By the end of May that year, more than 170 labs from 70 countries had used the tests. With the city’s experience in handling infectious diseases ranging from the bird flu outbreak in 1997 to the swine flu pandemic in 2009 and Covid-19, Hong Kong had much to share with others, Grais said.

[8] Universities in the city could also consider partnering with institutions from developing regions to share facilities and help raise the hardware preparedness for a pandemic. Grais added that Hong Kong’s move to become a biomedical hub and set up its own drug approval system could benefit residents in the event of an epidemic. “[It could be] a potential model for other locations,” she said.

[9] While some medical experts in Hong Kong advocated setting up a local vaccine manufacturing plant to ensure supply when demand was high, Grais cautioned that the government would need to consider the potential of vaccines not being used.

Source: South China Morning Post, September 10

1. Paragraph 1 highlights Hong Kong’s response to Covid-19 as an example of …
A. the importance of individual action in combating pandemics.
B. the various challenges faced during a global crisis.
C. how trust and collaboration are crucial for addressing future pandemics.
D. how pandemics are forcing healthcare professionals to disclose previously confidential information.

2. What is the importance of Hong Kong’s experience in combating infectious diseases according to paragraph 2?______________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. According to Grais in paragraph 3, what is a critical factor in improving global preparedness for pandemics?______________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. What does the phrase “crossing national borders” suggest about the diseases mentioned in paragraph 4?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. In paragraph 5, what factors affect sharing of information among scientists internationally?
___________________________________________________

6. According to paragraphs 6 and 7, what is the importance of timely information sharing in pandemics?
A. It is irrelevant to disease control.
B. It is crucial for mitigating the spread of disease.
C. It can hinder effective response efforts.
D. It is primarily useful for scientific research.

7. Based on your understanding of paragraph 7, how might the global response to Covid-19 have been different if Poon’s team had not shared their information?______________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. What concern does Grais have about Hong Kong having its own vaccine manufacturing plant according to paragraph 9?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

9. In which section of a healthcare magazine are you most likely to find this article?
A. medical advances
B. living with illnesses
C. wellness tips
D. none of the above

1. C
2. The city’s experience in handling Covid-19, bird flu and swine flu, can serve as a valuable resource for other countries in their efforts to prepare for and respond to similar infectious diseases. (accept all similar answers)
3. Rebuilding and fostering trust among scientists is a crucial step in improving global preparedness for future pandemics (accept all similar answers)
4. that they can be transmitted globally / that they can spread beyond a single country (accept all similar answers)
5. language and technology barriers
6. B
7. The development of tests to detect the disease could have been delayed, potentially leading to a slower containment of the virus. (accept all reasonable answers)
8. The government would need to consider the potential of the vaccines not being used up and what to do with them.
9. D