Still others argue lessons from SARS remain unlearned. "Once the initial dilly-dallying gave way to decisive and swift state action, resources were effectively mobilized against the epidemic and policy coordination was significantly improved," Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow on global health for the Council on Foreign Relations, wrote earlier this month.

"Yet many of the measures widely credited for stopping the spread of the virus, such as isolation and quarantine, were only implemented after the virus" had dissipated, he said.

The cases of a new SARS-like virus hitting a handful of people in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UK serves as reminder of the strange days that we in Hong Kong lived through a decade ago, and the hope that early detection of these cases will prevent other cities from living through a similar siege.