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SARS cases on the rise in Canada, may be spreading even further, 12 people showing symptoms
Globe And Mail ^
| 03-23-03
| Canadian Press
Posted on 03/23/2003 5:23:58 PM PST by Mother Abigail
SARS cases on the rise in Canada
Canadian Press
Toronto — Two more people in Ontario are suspected of having the deadly and mysterious severe acute respiratory syndrome, health officials said Sunday. One of the two new cases is categorized as probable and the other as suspected, Colin D'Cunha, Ontario's Commissioner of Public Health, told reporters Sunday. Also, the emergency ward of the Scarborough Hospital's Grace division in east-end Toronto has been closed to allow medical staff to focus on the disease.
The two new cases bring Ontario's total to 10 probable and four suspected, said Allison McGeer, head of infection control for Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. Three of the probable cases have died thus far.
The illness may be spreading even further as public health staff are monitoring another cluster of about 12 people who appear to be showing symptoms of SARS. Sunday's news comes a day after officials announced that a third victim, who had been classified as a probable case, had died Friday.
It's believed the man in his 70s contracted SARS after being placed in an observation room with Chi Kwai Tse, a 44-year-old man who later died. Mr. Tse was the son of Sui-chu Kwan, the first Toronto person to die of the illness
TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: canada; sars; toronto
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To: Mother Abigail
"The illness may be spreading even further as public health staff are monitoring another cluster of about 12 people who appear to be showing symptoms of SARS. " Thanks. Keep the updates coming.
2
posted on
03/23/2003 5:29:20 PM PST
by
blam
To: blam
I will try
To: blam
Attention News/Health Editors:
Toronto EMS Paramedic ambulance services will not be affected by temporary closure of Scarborough Hospital - Grace Division emergency department
TORONTO, March 23 /CNW/ -
Emergency Medical Services - Toronto Emergency Medical Services announced today that its regular paramedic ambulance services to the public will not be affected by the decision of Scarborough Hospital - Grace Division to close its emergency department temporarily in order to provide an appropriate level of care for patients suspected of having Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
(SARS). Dr. Colin D'Cunha, Ontario's Commissioner of Public Health, announced the closure today during his SARS update.
"Toronto EMS has considerable experience in redistributing patient calls during the temporary emergency department closures that occur from time to time, most recently in December during the outbreak of the Norwalk-like virus," said Peter Macintyre, Manager, Community Safeguard Services. "Emergency Medical Dispatchers will direct paramedic crews to the closest available facility during the temporary closure of the Scarborough Hospital - Grace Division ED."
Only Hong Kong has closed a Hosital to new patients due to SARS, has a bad feel to it...
To: Mother Abigail
What are the symptoms of this virus?
To: Mother Abigail; blam; CathyRyan; bonesmccoy
Closing an ER is a big deal, imho...if the ER is closed, other potential cases which might arise will have to be routed to different hospitals, and their ER's will have to close if it is confirmed...etc...
I don't know how Canada's system works, but we do get direct admissions from dr's offices...the closing of the ER means that potential patients might carry the pathogen to those in the dr's waiting room, his clerical staff, and to the dr himself in a small exam room...
Actually, this seems like a nightmare...
6
posted on
03/23/2003 5:38:52 PM PST
by
Judith Anne
(God bless our soldiers with swift victory...)
To: Judith Anne
Just re-reading what you posted earlier...if the ambulance crews are transporting these people....have any of them been affected I wonder? Actually, that's just a rhetorical question...I haven't seen anything in the articles that mentions ambulance crews, I'm just thinking they're at risk. That's a very close environment.
7
posted on
03/23/2003 5:42:24 PM PST
by
Judith Anne
(God bless our soldiers with swift victory...)
To: Judith Anne
"Actually, this seems like a nightmare..." This troubles me more than the possibility of a terrorist attack.
8
posted on
03/23/2003 5:45:55 PM PST
by
blam
To: Conservateacher
- Fever (greater than 38 degrees Celsius) and respiratory symptoms including cough, shortness of breath or breathing difficulty; AND
- have travelled to Hong Kong, Hanoi or Guangdong province in China, within 2 weeks of onset of the symptoms; or
- are a close contact of persons diagnosed with SARS. (Close contact means having cared for, having lived with, or having had direct contact with respiratory secretions and body fluids of a person with SARS)
To: Judith Anne
Unknown
To: Judith Anne
Yep. This has been my fear, that it will be the Drs offices and ERs that will shut down first until they take one hospital as the SARs (and only SARs) facility. Each area needs to get on the ball NOW and the Department of Health should designate or set up a specific site for this.
To: Domestic Church
Hong Kong to shut schools hit by flu
HONG KONG: Hong Kong, which is battling to stop the spread of a deadly form of pneumonia, ordered all schools be disinfected and said yesterday it would shut for a week any school with a child or staff member ill with the disease.
Education Secretary Arthur Li also told a news conference he was ordering about 180 children with family members infected with the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) to stop attending classes for a week from today.
In 48 hours this has gone from 3 schools to 5 schools to all schools - to be disinfected
Hong Kong is the key
To: blam; Mother Abigail
This is from another thread that Mother Abigail graciously started: For next 2 weeks: TTSH won't take in new patients, A&E also closed By Li-Ann Wee TAN Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) is not where you would go in the next fortnight, unless you suspect you may be coming down with the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars). The 1,500-bed hospital is not admitting new patients for the next two weeks, so that resources can be used more effectively to isolate and treat Sars cases, and reduce the risk of the infection spreading. If they're closing a 1500 bed hospital to new admissions except for SARS cases, that's huge. To me, that indicates an immediate expectation of a huge influx of patients far in excess of the several hundred admitted to now...
13
posted on
03/23/2003 5:57:27 PM PST
by
Judith Anne
(God bless our soldiers with swift victory...)
To: coteblanche
Ping
To: blam; Mother Abigail
This is from another thread that Mother Abigail graciously started:
For next 2 weeks: TTSH won't take in new patients, A&E also closed
By Li-Ann Wee
TAN Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) is not where you would go in the next fortnight, unless you suspect you may be coming down with the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars).
The 1,500-bed hospital is not admitting new patients for the next two weeks, so that resources can be used more effectively to isolate and treat Sars cases, and reduce the risk of the infection spreading.
If they're closing a 1500 bed hospital to new admissions except for SARS cases, that's huge. To me, that indicates an immediate expectation of a huge influx of patients far in excess of the several hundred admitted to now...
(paragraphs are my friend. paragraphs are my friend. paragraphs are my friend.)
15
posted on
03/23/2003 6:00:03 PM PST
by
Judith Anne
(God bless our soldiers with swift victory...)
To: Judith Anne
Yes, and also indicative of a Hot Zone
To: Mother Abigail
Have any non-Asians (ethnically speaking) gotten this disease yet? I read on a different thread here that this disease had only been contracted by Asians, although it'd be almost impossible for a disease to really work this way...
17
posted on
03/23/2003 6:03:04 PM PST
by
Koblenz
(There's usually a free market solution)
To: Koblenz
Could you please point me to that thread?
18
posted on
03/23/2003 6:04:30 PM PST
by
Judith Anne
(God bless our soldiers with swift victory...)
To: Koblenz
Deaths by country
Vietnam 2
Canada 3
Hong Kong 8
Ethnicity has not been listed, as of yet, but most cases are Asian.
If I remember correctly there might be one non-asian case.
Better case breakdowns will follow in the next few days....
To: Judith Anne
"If they're closing a 1500 bed hospital to new admissions except for SARS cases, that's huge. To me, that indicates an immediate expectation of a huge influx of patients far in excess of the several hundred admitted to now... " It's gotten me thinking of the 'six degrees of seperation' thing. The folks working in my favorite Chinese restaurant could be at one degree seperation, huh?
20
posted on
03/23/2003 6:16:23 PM PST
by
blam
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