ALLISON DUNFIELD
Globe and Mail Update


As Ontario public health officials attempted Thursday to encourage people to avoid Easter church services this weekend if they are feeling ill, they revealed that residents living in a 252-unit Toronto apartment complex could be at risk of SARS.

Dr. Sheela Basrur, Toronto’s medical officer of health, said that officials decided to reveal that two residents living at a condominium building at 300 Alton Towers Circle in the area of Steeles Ave. and Markham Road in Toronto are exhibiting symptoms of severe acute respiratory syndrome, in order to inform members of the public who may have visited the building in the past few weeks as well as those who live there.

Dr. Basrur said health officials struggled over whether to reveal the name and location of the 19-story apartment complex but decided it was in the best interest of the public to be aware of the situation in case they had visited the building.

Casual contact within the building should not be a cause for concern, the health officials said on Thursday during a daily briefing on the disease, but rather to ensure that those who were in social contact with those suspected individuals check themselves for symptoms. Those include severe headache, severe fatigue, fever, body aches, and dry cough.

“It would be unusual for the elevator to be a common conduit for the rest of the building,” Dr. Basrur said.

All residents of the building were informed of the situation, and of the symptoms to look out for by information pamphlets, she said.

Dr. Basrur said she is somewhat alarmed because the two cases do not appear to be linked.

“The cases do not appear to have a direct link to each other. It raises a concern that there may be others that are ill,” she said.

Meanwhile, another potential problem that emerged Thursday morning at a retirement home in the city’s north-end was cleared by the afternoon. The care facility sent out the message its institution was SARS-free that after learning that paid companions who visited several of its residents were not breaching a quarantine order when they entered the facility.

The Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care closed its doors to paid companions earlier in the day because it believed two members of a religious group which is under quarantine had come to the residence in defiance of strict public health instructions to stay home in isolation.

In a statement, the centre said one of the individuals could have been at risk through participation in the religious group, known as the BLD Covenant Community. But public health officials have determined the individual does not pose a SARS risk and did not need to be in quarantine, the statement continued.

Baycrest now believes no one breaching quarantine rules visited the facility, the statement added.

Toronto health officials also admitted Thursday that if the SARS situation drags on much longer, their resources will become strained. Dr. James Young, Ontario commissioner of public security, said that the province may look for help from other health units in the province as well as outside Ontario. The province may put out a national call for individuals to assist with the crisis including senior public-health physicians, case managers and public-heath investigators.

Of immediate concern is the Easter weekend, Dr. Young said. While the Anglican and Catholic churches have revised their rituals this weekend so that parishioners will not be drinking out of common Communion cups or shaking hands, Dr. Young said officials are prepared for something to happen on the weekend. A public-health SWAT team has been assembled just in case, he said.

In Ottawa, Health Canada officials said they are still confident that they have been taking the correct approach in dealing with the illness. They are now handing out information on planes and trains, said Dr. Paul Gully, of Health Canada.

Dr. Gully said while Health Canada is now telling Canadians to avoid travelling to some Asian countries, where the disease is thought to have originated, he does not feel that people would be at risk travelling to Ontario or within the city of Toronto.

“The risk of acquiring the disease in Toronto is low. That’s our assessment,” he said.

Meanwhile, China refused to revise its SARS death toll Thursday and insisted it is dealing responsibly with the outbreak in its country, despite a warning Wednesday by the World Health Organization that was under-reporting its cases.

WHO officials said the number of people infected in Beijing was close to 200, more than five times the number acknowledged by the Chinese government.

Reuters News Agency reported on Thursday that there was more evidence that not all cases in China were being reported to WHO and a fresh report the disease was spreading. The government declared one infection in the remote western region of Ningxia, but a doctor there said there were eight.

In Hong Kong, the second-most affected area after mainland China, Reuters reported that the virus had killed four more people and infected 29 others, and India confirmed its first infection.

And three Canadian children hospitalized in Australia earlier this month probably had SARS, the Australian government told WHO on Thursday.

Australia’s chief medical officer, Richard Smallwood, said the children, monitored for severe acute respiratory syndrome since April 4, have fully recovered and there had been no transmission to other family members or close contacts. They have since been released from hospital.

Health Canada said Thursday that there are now 306 probable and suspected SARS cases in Canada and 13 people have died.

With reports from Canadian Press and Associated Press

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