Canada to take temperatures at airport in new anti-SARS measure

Drudgereport ^ | Mon Apr 28 2003 15:58:36 ET | Drudge

[SquirrelKing]

Toronto (dpa) - Aiming to tighten its borders against the lethal SARS virus, Canada said Monday it would screen the body temperature of arriving passengers at international airports with an infrared instrument.

Canada's Health minister Anne McLellan said the new measure would help with early diagnosis of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that has killed some 321 people and infected 5,050 worldwide, mostly in Asia, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Canada hopes WHO will lift its travel advisory against Canada's commercial capital Toronto on Tuesday, when it meets in Geneva to consider the matter, McLellan said.

McLellan said the number of Canada's suspected SARS cases had fallen in the last days, and the illness was under control.

But on Sunday, Canada reported yet another death, bringing the country's total to 21.

[SquirrelKing]

"Welcome to Canada, bend over, eh?"

[TommyDale]

Yep. You know how Canadians tell the difference in an oral thermometer and a rectal thermometer? By the TASTE!

[Squawk 8888]

You probably won't even know your temperature's being taken- these are IR thermal scanners that detect people who are feverish but do not measure exact temperature.