As I've mentioned before on this blog, I frequently use Google News Canada as a portal to various articles on the latest news stories. Today, one headline jumped out at me and forced me to recall a less joyous time in Toronto. The article, Suspected SARS case in Beijing, brought me back to last April when the entire world saw Toronto as a SARS-infected pariah state.
Here is some of what I wrote in my entry of April 24, 2003 which I called SARS Update: From the eye of the storm.
The World Health Organization has just issued a warning against travelling to Toronto. Don't travel to Toronto unless it's essential, they say. Major League Baseball is issuing warnings to teams visiting Toronto. They're asking that contact with fans at SkyDome be kept to a minimum. Headlines all over the world are painting Toronto as a dangerous place to be right now. A global pariah!
I live in Toronto. I spend every day in Toronto. I've never put on a mask and my day-to-day living hasn't changed a bit. The only thing that's even slightly different, as far as I can tell, is that we're all sanitizing our hands throughout the day at work.
Last time I checked the stats, 16 people in Canada had died of SARS. All 16 people had a pre-existing diabetic condition or heart disease. If SARS kills, it gets plenty of help.
Life goes on in the big T.O. The Leafs are out of the playoffs, the Jays have slipped to last in the AL East and the Raptors haven't been seen in weeks. Sounds like a typical spring to me.
