How Vancouver may have stopped SARS, why Toronto didn’t and what it means for the coronavirus

The Star ^ | January 28, 2020 | Alex McKeen

[DoodleBob]

VANCOUVER—For Susan Sorrenti, the introduction of a new coronavirus to Canada is a stark reminder of the deadly virus outbreak that could have been prevented in Ontario, but instead threatened her life.

After all, of the health care staff who handled SARS patients on the other side of the country, only one got the virus.

When a pneumonia patient was transferred to the hospital where Sorrenti worked as an intensive care nurse in 2003, she recalled being assured that the patient did not have the mysterious new SARS virus. Unprotected by a respirator mask and suit, she was among the first of 146 health care workers to contract the virus that made her feel sicker than she’d ever felt before, and fear for the health of her family.

“Almost 20 years later, nurses have been kind of waiting for the next pandemic,” Sorrenti said. “These mistakes that we made — that’s on us for that period of time in history.

“Now, we don’t have any kind of excuse.”

In Toronto, SARS spread mainly through health care workers like Sorrenti, or hospital visitors. In the aftermath of the SARS crisis, public health experts agreed that hospital transmissions are preventable, and officials from the Public Health Agency of Canada and local health authorities are assuring the public that the “hard learned” lessons of SARS have been ingrained in hospitals across the country.

...

It’s not the first time a pandemic plan centred on the safety of health care workers will be tested in Canada. In 2003, such a plan was already in place in British Columbia, where SARS was mostly contained. But across the country, there was no such plan in Ontario, and the virus quickly spread throughout Toronto.

[DoodleBob]

Bottom line, this story basically says Vancouver had a pre-existing pandemic plan that it implemented while Toronto didn't. That is slightly at odds with this US NIH report which points out that Vancouver's patient 0 went right to the doctor then hospital and was treated after landing, while Toronto's patient 0

"went to a community hospital on March 7, the same day as Vancouver's patient 0, but was not recognized as a special threat. He was placed in general observation in the emergency room, where he remained for 18 hours and where he was given nebulized salbutamol. He was not placed in airborne isolation until he had been at the hospital for 21 hours".

It's also noteworthy that Vancouver's daily passenger arrival from HK and China is 4x Toronto's 500 passenger total. Yet, Toronto reported 247 patients with SARS and 43 related deaths; 3 cases were imported, while Vancouver identified 5 confirmed cases, 4 of which were imported and no deaths.

Even more noteworthy, as detailed in this separate NIH study, the USA had ZERO deaths out 1,460 unexplained respiratory illnesses reported by state and local health departments to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from March 17 to July 30, 2003, wherein a total of 398 (27%) met clinical and epidemiologic SARS case criteria. Indeed,

"In addition, no healthcare workers identified by national surveillance had laboratory evidence of SARS infection, despite evidence of unprotected exposures to confirmed case-patients. While effective surveillance and timely infection-control measures likely helped limit transmission, why the United States experienced few SARS-CoV infections despite opportunities for importation and spread remains unclear."

[Secret Agent Man]

Having a good working plan, and then having everyone involved follow that plan, is what is needed.

It’s why it almost never works out. Crappy plans. People don’t follow the plans. The plans have to be followed 100% of the time by all people required to in the hospital.

In reality it isn’t ever done.

[DannyTN]

why the United States experienced few SARS-CoV infections despite opportunities for importation and spread remains unclear."

That sounds like divine protection to me.

[Bommer]

Now all the asshole Canadians need to do is learn how to lock down deadly viruses in their possession. Thanks for the next pandemic Trudeau, Coronavirus Bioweapon – How China Stole Coronavirus From Canada And Weaponized It! It wasn't due to any bat soup!

[RummyChick]

I read, and have not independently confirmed, that the first patient with Sars was a Doctor..cant remember if he was for sure a researcher or if it was a guess that he was a researcher.

[JudgemAll]

Haha, what a joke. Deep state Politics was involved. The Canadian fascist government health care system is even worse than the collapsing French and the British one.

They are as bad as Beijing in that lying department. I wont hold my breath.

[JudgemAll]

Or a non political private health care system.

Canada was doing a cover up, hence precautions were not taken.

[Cold Heart]

Apparently the Canadians are trying to deny the Chinese smuggled the virus to China according to a post here on FR. I was not convinced by their narrative.

[null and void]

Bring Out Your Dead

Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.

The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.

So far the false positive rate is 100%.

At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.

*sigh* Such is life, and death...

If a quarantine saves just one child's life, it's worth it.

[DoodleBob]

Then why the Vancouver/Toronto difference?

[PGR88]

A centrally-run health-care system is exactly that - a massive top-down bureaucracy. Besides all the bureaucracy-watching that goes on among managers, all thinking, planning are the same - so a “black swan” is going to eventually come along that hits them where they have not planned.

Decentralized systems are more stable. Local responsibility means faster responses, and a network of different ideas and solutions.

[21twelve]

The guy from Wuhan that showed up in Washington state is stable and at the hospital. He is in a special room and has guards. There is a “robot” with a stethascope to moniter his lungs and heart.

Only four people have been into his room to work on him to avoid contamination.

That is REALLY great to hear that this hospital obviously had a plan in place.

However, it is one patient. I’m guessing their plan will be different if it becomes 100 patients.

[DoodleBob]

I agree in theory, but Toronto's rather decentralized approach accompanied a more deadly body count vs what was seen in the centralized Vancouver numbers.

What's even more stunning is how the US' numbers were lower than that in Toronto despite America having about 10x more people.

There are lots of people talking numbers, statistics, videos yada yada yada. What these SARS stores say, is a kickazz plan that balances the rights of society and the individual will beat any pandemic.

[JudgemAll]

It does not seem like Vancouver ever faulted their counterparts in Toronto, which they should have much earlier than then.