SARS resignation

HONG KONG’S hospital authority chairman Dr Leong Che-hung resigned yesterday over last year’s Sars crisis - the second senior health official to do so in as many days.

Mr Leong said he was stepping down to demonstrate the spirit of political accountability. But he stressed “no mistakes” were made by the Hospital Authority in the battle against Sars, which infected 1,755 people in the territory, killing 299.

A report on Monday said the authority had failed to put in place a contingency plan for large-scale outbreaks of infectious diseases like Sars.