From: Hal Finney (hal@finney.org)
Date: Thu Mar 27 2003 - 21:04:10 MST
There's an extremely alarming article about the SARS outbreak in Toronto,
Canada, reported in The Toronto Sun,
http://www.canoe.ca/TorontoNews/ts.ts-03-27-0002.html. Scarborough Grace
hospital has been effectively closed. "Anyone who has even visited the
Scarborough Grace hospital since March 16 has been asked to voluntarily
isolate themselves in their homes for 10 days since their last visit."
This amounts to perhaps 3000 people, a quarantine of unprecedented
scope for the city.
Toronto has seen "escalating panic", "a run on surgical masks, the closing
of a school and of two hospitals' emergency and intensive-care units,
and a call by the province's nurses that no one should visit family in
hospitals or long-term care facilities."
"SARS cases have spread to York, Durham, Peel, and Simcoe. An Ottawa
man has also been isolated as a suspected SARS case, the first in that
region."
"David Lewis Public School in Scarborough remains closed until Monday
after three kindergarten students developed fevers yesterday morning. The
TDSB closed the school despite objections from Toronto Public Health."
The problem with an epidemic is that it starts small and grows
exponentially, so it is hard to judge how bad it will get. This one seems
to be about as contagious as a cold, but with at least a 5% fatality rate.
It remains to be seen whether these extensive quarantine measures will
succeed in arresting the epidemic.
These signs of panic in Toronto, closing schools and hospitals,
quarantines and use of surgical masks, may be coming to your own city
soon. This is something we should all be watching.
Hal
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Thu Mar 27 2003 - 21:15:22 MST