Bulletin No. 1, 2020

The Corona Chronicle 5 Storm On the New Year’s Eve heading into 2020, as people were celebrating with joyful expectations the advent of a new decade, few were aware that on the far horizon, a storm was brewing: a new coronavirus, believed to have originated in bats and belonging to the same family of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus causing 299 deaths in Hong Kong back in 2003, would soon sweep through the world, locking down its proudest cities and robbing people of lives and livelihoods. Having learned the SARS lesson the hard way, Hongkongers put up a strong defence right from the first threats of the new virus in January. CUHK had been bracing itself for the stormy weathers ahead with the same foresight. From e-learning and social distancing to working from home, the University did not shrink from experimenting with new and unprecedented ways of doing things and changing its game as the situation called for. As a seat of learning, moreover, it beaconed the way ahead with timely and cutting-edge research, and provided the public with practical aid and understandings that shed light on the murky waters we found ourselves in. The