HONG KONG, July 5 (UPI) -- A legislative report on Hong Kong's SARS epidemic, released Monday, commended Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa for his handling of the outbreak.
The report praised Tung for urging people to wear masks, directing the closure of an infected housing estate, and invoking quarantine laws soon after the appearance of the deadly severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, the South China Morning Post reported.
The Legislative Council study cleared Health Secretary E. K. Yeoh of accusations that he tried to hide investigations into rats at Amoy Gardens, the housing estate where dozens of families were infected with the deadly virus. But it described Yeoh's overall role in handling the disease as unsatisfactory, saying he was not alert enough to recognize the severity of
the outbreak when it first surfaced across the border in Guangdong province.
The report criticized other officials for poor communications with the media and the public, and for failing to implement isolation policies in hospital wards early and effectively.
The SARS epidemic killed 299 people in Hong Kong last year.
