INDEPTH: SARS
Preparing for SARS
CBC News Online | April 29, 2003
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| Toronto Medical Officer Sheela Basrur |
Cities are doing what they can to avoid an outbreak
Most cities in Canada are still free of SARS and they're trying hard to keep it that way. They know they can't afford to assume it won't reach their communities.
Here's a look at three cities where SARS has yet to make an appearance. What are they doing to prepare?
Halifax | Edmonton | Montreal
Halifax
Tom Murphy, CBC News | April 28, 2003
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| Masks and protective glasses are now standard issue in firehalls in Halifax |
At Halifax fire stations, cleanliness has taken on a whole new meaning. Masks and protective glasses are now standard issue. Paramedics have been trained to protect themselves in case they get calls where there has been a potential SARS infection. So have fire fighters and police officers, in case they get there first.
No one is taking any chances.
"It's scary to the extent that Toronto is going through all that," one firefighter says "We're not sure where the SARS is and what's going on with that particular virus so we're taking all those precautions and doing the best we can to make our guys, our people safe."
At the airport there are warnings about the disease. In case an incoming passenger develops symptoms, there's a contingency plan that includes a possible quarantine of an entire flight.
"There are plans for us to take over certain buildings on the airport, hangers and other kinds of buildings like that, where we could keep large numbers of people quarantined," says Peter Clarke of Halifax International Airport. "But this would be a short-term solution."
Downtown, the Department of Health works on longer-term solutions. There are regular province-wide conference calls among medical officials.
"Our aim first of all is to detect it to prevent spread," says Nova Scotia Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jeff Scott. "But if we did have a situation where we had to reduce an emergency service or close a ward, we want to know, what would we do? What would be the services we would need to keep doing? And how would we organize that?"
The city's hotels and funeral homes wait for further instruction from the Department of Health. At the Halifax Regional School Board there are thoughts of canceling all school trips to Toronto.
"We're allowing schools to go ahead if they want to," says Doug Hadley of the Halifax School Board. "We are gathering information and working closely with public health and Health Canada. And it could be possible that a decision down the road could be made to cancel trips."
Halifax is a city that is relieved it hasn't been hit by SARS. Still, it's cautious and concerned that the disease might come yet.
Edmonton
Margo McDiarmid, CBC News | April 28, 2003
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| Medical staff in Edmonton test protective masks to see if they fit properly |
Although it looks drastic, it could save lives.
Health care workers in Edmonton try on protective masks to ensure they're a proper fit. There's a scramble to fit masks to 17,000 health care workers in the Edmonton region before SARS shows up.
"We are working 24 hours and seven [days a week], in the middle of the night, in the day, in the evening, early in the morning, whenever there is a group of people together we go," says Elizabeth Tanti, an occupational health consultant.
Edmonton has the luxury of being able to plan for SARS. There have been a few scares but so far the province has remained SARS free.
So health officials have set up a series of medical roadblocks to stop the disease from spreading if and when it gets here.
It starts at the city's 24-hour health line. The medical officer of health is urging people to phone first if they are feeling ill.
"We want to be sure if someone is in our region we diagnose them early before they have the chance to spread it to anybody else," says Edmonton Medical Officer of Health Dr. Gerry Preddy.
It could also be an early warning system for hospital emergency departments, which are preparing isolation rooms.
Dr. Garnet Cummings points out the benefit of having an isolation unit that can be entered from the outside, like the one at the Royal Alexandra Hospital.
"We would physically meet the patient here and they would be gowned up and the staff would walk the patient through that door so they don't even go anywhere near the waiting room at all," he explains.
A big worry is SARS patients who wander into emergency on their own. Staff are on high alert. Because Edmonton hospitals serve a huge area – the prairie provinces, three northern territories and northern B.C. – a SARS outbreak could affect could half the country.
"If it hits our communities in our health care system and among our health care officials and hospitals, we are going to have big problems," says Dr. Mark Joffe, head of the infectious diseases team at the Royal Alexandra Hospital.
So the preparations continue for what health care workers worry is just a matter of time – the first case of SARS in Alberta.
Montreal
Matthew Pace, CBC News | April 28, 2003
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| The anxiety over SARS is hitting tourism in Montreal |
Anxiety about SARS has spread farther than the outbreak itself.
In Montreal, which is more than 500 kilometres from Toronto, there have been no confirmed cases of SARS. However, both cities have seen a drop in tourism, and tourist dollars.
Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay visited Chinatown to allay fears.
"Toronto is like a sister city for us," he says. "And the economy of Toronto is important like the one in Montreal."
Shopkeepers are worried, saying people from Toronto aren't coming to Montreal as much.
"We would like them to come because basically they like us," says shopkeeper Marie-Claire Dionne. "They like the French thing, they like to eat here, they think it's great. So, we would like to see them again."
The people at Tourism Montreal say many tourists from abroad don't distinguish between the two cities. They say they've seen a 15 per cent decrease in visitors just because of SARS.
"We'll lose business," says Pierre Bellerose of the Montreal Board of Tourism. "But for us, Toronto is a partner for many markets. So we'll try to help the best we can."
Aside from the business and the tourism, what binds the two cities most closely are thousands of personal connections – acquaintances, friends, family.
Last year, Alfred Gnanarajah's daughter Zobi moved to Toronto for university. She was supposed to come home last month. He was supposed to visit her last weekend. Both times they agreed it wasn't a good idea.
"We are scared… Anyone can get infected," says Gnanarajah.
Gnanarajah takes solace with other family members and does one of the few things he believes he can do.
"We trust in God," he says. "And if it is going to happen, who's going to stop it?"
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