As a new coronavirus spreads within China and to other countries, I'm reminded of my time in Hong Kong during the SARS outbreak of 2003.
Back then, I spent an otherwise beautiful spring wearing masks in public but mostly working from home, as I reported on the disease and the struggle to contain it.
Every day at the same time I checked an official Hong Kong website, which I trusted completely, to see that day's new cases. I remember my relief as the number finally trended down. When it was over, it felt as though SARS had been just a shot across the world's bow.