Apart from that, despite his effort, Hong Kong, like the southern mainland China, Taiwan, Indonesia and the Philippines, continued to remain under the threat of cholera."本港發生首宗霍亂，當局採取緊急措施" (24 August 1962) In 1961 and 1962, Hong Kong was twice badly hit by cholera epidemics, during which the city was declared an infected area by the government. The 1961 outbreak, which lasted from 16 August to 12 October, was the first cholera outbreak recorded since 1946. It was more serious than the outbreak in the following year, as 129 people were diagnosed with cholera and 15 of them died."真性霍亂症共百零七宗，喪生者共十二人" (2 September 1961)"香港傳染病史略" (retrieved 6 July 2013) The local economy was also badly affected.
