SARS
 

I just wanted to post this here because this is a forum where people live all over the world and I think its important to clarify the situation. Youve probably seen some coverage on CNN (i apologise for our idiot mayor)

I live in Toronto which is considered to be the NorthAmerican SARS hotspot. Recently my city has been thrown into the international spotlight because of a World Health Organization travel advisory to my city, basically telling people not to travel here because of the SARS risk. I understand its good to be careful but I think theyve gone too far. All i can say is that I think theyre wrong because I live here and I go downtown every day for work I take public transit and things are pretty normal. Everyone is going about their normal lives shopping and eating out as best as they can. The media has a way of blowing things out of proportion and distorting the way things really are. They focus on pictures of people wearing masks and empty shopping malls suggesting that everyone is sitting at home afraid to go out. Honestly, I was out yesterday in the nice weather and there were tons of people. Only a small number of paranoid people are wearing medical masks when theyre out in public. Thats because unlike China, the virus has NOT YET spread through casual contact in public places. Every single case can be traced back to a certain hospital.

In my opinion Toronto is still a safe place to visit. If you were planning to travel here and are considering cancelling the trip because of this advisory I urge you not to. My city depends HEAVILY on tourism because we are one of Canada's largest cities. Or if youve never been to Toronto and dont know where to travel this year why not consider comming here? There's alot to do!
The Toronto Blue Jays, our MLB baseball team have SOLD OUT todays game by selling every ticket for $1. its SOLD OUT meaning that if 50 thousand people in Toronto are not afraid to attend a baseball game then it is SAFE to travel here.

Sorry but I just wanted to set some things straight because I was out of town and I think that when your on the outside looking in it DOES look really scary, but when you're here its really not as bad as everyone is making it out to be. Ive also heard on the news today that theyre planning to lift the travel advisory soon which is good, but the damage is already done to my city's reputation

i agree... i have tons of friends in toronto and they are all doing just fine and dandy...... people need to relax.

a Little girl and her dad died here from Sars... Im all the way in California

Media hype. Tish. :roll:

I think China is the real hotspot, but that's not gonna stop me from traveling. Hopefully the planes I hop on this weekend would be locked down cause of a SARS scare, while I'm still on it! That's the least of my worries. :goofygri:

yeah i agree the media is making to much of it..

but um....for toronto selling out a baseball game?...they only did it cause they sold all tickets for a dollar....the blue jays suck...=x

Everyone in Toronto knows the Blue Jays suck pal. They weren't trying to sell out the game because they were good! They were doing it to prove that no one in Toronto is afriad to go out in public because of SARS. Get your facts straight.

i gotta admit when i heard that the SARS hing was in canada all i could think of was......"its in our attic!" and then i freaked out and taped up my windows!........*passes out from suffocation*

It's becoming serious. A big number of Asians are suffering from it.
It just not right.

...it's kinda HARD to argue morality w/ a virus....

i mean. really.... no callousness on my part here, because it IS a terrible thing...but i mean... whatcha gonna do? ALL populations of organisms are prone to disease... especially in crowded conditions... it's just a blessing that the virus isn't MORE deadly. Just cause we've come a LONG way in medical studies and basic hygiene from the time period of the Black Death, doesn't mean it wasn't bound to happen again...

pray. or get a medical degree. or both. because even if this one peters out and leaves us alone, there WILL be another one. That's just the way it goes.


*kya looks back over this post.*
dang. that wasn't terribley CHIPPER, was it?
uh...
here. This should make you smile: http://www.freeadpower.org/~mrsmiles...lindfolded.gif LOOK! LAUGH!! KYA"S BEATING UP THE WATERMELON WITH A KENDO BOKKEN!!
*BEAT BEAT BEAT!!*

...blindfolded no less...

that's prolly a metaphor for something.

What's the big deal with SARS anyway? More people are dying from AIDs and nobody seems to give a rats ass about them.

I too think that the media has created too much "hype" over this whole SARS thing.

I live in Toronto, I'm half Chinese and half Filipino (Phillippines), and I am just getting tired of the way people just keep looking as Asians already thinking they have SARS.

I caught a cold last week from walking to the mall in the rain. This week, I have been coughing like mad and automatically, people start thinking I have SARS. :P


^^ I totally agree with Keno on this one. Toronto is still a safe place. I live pretty close to two of the schools that were closed because of suspected SARS, nothing's happened...yet. Here in Toronto, it's been at low risk since the beginning or the "hype" (Gah, I hate using that word), and it's at low risk now.

there are treatments for AIDS, and none for SARS. AIDS is avoidable, SARS really isn't.

I'm sure the people trying to find the cure to AIDS are still looking. Just cause the media dosen't cover it dosen't mean it isn't there.

I live in bum-effed Nebraska, so this all still seams pretty distant to me.

Yeah and they seem to be losing yet again. 13-9 in the 8th. Hmmmm. And yeah now they lifted the flight control and now anyone can come into toronto just like before because there haven't been any new cases in 20 days! So it seems to be calming down now, finally!

Refresh my memory...what exactly is SARS again?

Whatever happened to the West Nile Virus?

SARS = Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

It is where you have a fever and having trouble breathing. It can spread by coughing and sneezing and stuff like that. Seems to be calming down.

Kya.....That is hilllarous!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Where do you find those?

http://smilies.jeeptalk.org/kao/msroom/m-tabako.gif*horrid french accent* eet eez ay SEE-CRRET...

uh. no. http://www.computerpannen.com/cwm/ka...blobtongue.gifit' ain't a secret.
here, this is the website i use:
http://mysmilies.com/

Umm, There is a better name for that and it isn't racist kya...called "bubonic plague"....

Anyway, I think SARS is something that we can't just go about our daily lives for. People I know who have been to Toronto lately have said you are pretty much immediately quarantined for a week or 2...this is serious stuff like ebola. Airlines are having HORRIBLE business because of this, you can't just go about your normal lives...Ashcroft said this about terrorism...I guess it is easy not being the victim of a terrible disease or terrorism, eh? If I had the chance to go to Toronto now, I wouldn't. I'd rather avoid an uncurable disease than be in Toronto for a vacation with that risk...Anyway I am not saying we should all have gas masks on 24/7 but we need to be aware of this and stay on the alert at all times, the disease won't go away just by hoping it won't get you...Realize the impact of what this disease is causing.

Tokka it is nothing like that. Regradless of what you've seen on the news. No one walks around wearing masks. EVERYONE but people who do have it are going about their normal lives.