Segregation, Isolation, and Quarantine: Protecting Hong Kong from Diseases in the Pre-war Period

Abstract

The paper examines the public health strategies of segregation, isolation, and quarantine as measures to protect Hong Kong from imported diseases, as well as from the spread of diseases within the colony in the pre-war period, through case studies of cholera, smallpox, and plague. The purpose is to contextualize the discussion of these case studies in order to analyse the assumptions and rationale underlying the control measures, the way they were implemented, and their effectiveness in disease protection. The case studies illuminate some of the political, economic, social and cultural issues involved in the adoption of specific measures which the colonists deemed necessary for their physical survival and the economic well-being of the colony. That fundamental concern was reinforced by the view that since the indigenes were incapable of actively participating in disease prevention, the government had to act even without the indigenes' cooperation or involvement. The study also examines how the colonial government's actions were influenced by the international concern for the spread of infectious diseases and public health developments in England.