The Last Word on SARS

I'm very interested to read the report. I filled out a survey about my experence with SARS in 2004 - I had pneumonia during the 2003 outbreak and ended up quarantined for 8 days in St. Joseph's Hospital as a 'unconfirmed' case. In the end I just had pneumonia and a fever.

I <a href="http://www.tribemagazine.com/board/showthread.php?t=38133&;highlight=SARS">posted about my experience on the Tribe Magazine message board at the time.</a>
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My gf at the time was bipolar, and she went off her meds. We had to take her to a hospital with a psyche ward. Wow, nothing like the prospect of a killer plague to further deter a bipolar person from going to the hospital. One of the longest nights of my life...

I remember how Chinatown was like a ghost town because people assumed that since SARS came from China any part of the city with Chinese people had to be affected.
The 510 Streetcar was affectionately called the "SARS Car" since it goes through Chinatown, and it was probably the fastest way downtown since it was usually empty and didn't stop very often...

I had to visit, regularly, three hospitals: St. Michael's, Mount Sinai and Toronto General, before, during and after the SARS crisis. I remember the line-ups to get passed the SARS screening tables, the slip-shod enforcement of "banning" rules (I was forbidden to enter at one hospital, because I'd been on a particular floor at another, only to be waived through by an administrator called to make a decision on my case and then, moments later, to have that permission rescinded again by someone else. After they closed the main entrance of Mount Sinai, University looked almost empty, even at the height of the business day. l remember the hotdog lady that had a stand on University telling me that she might be able to hang on to her business for a couple of days (there were weeks more to come). I remember the double-decker tour buses running through the streets, almost empty, for months after the crisis ended. I remember what an embarrassment Mel Lastman was throughout the entire crisis; thank god he's gone! Most of all, I remember exhibiting all of the symptoms associated with SARS, and, because I'd been visiting the aforementioned hospitals, I had reason to believe I had it. I called the SARS information line to report my symptoms and was told to go to an emergency room or walk-in clinic but not to be surprised if they wouldn't let me in. I asked her what I should do if that happened and was told to "wait it out". I did, for 24 sweat-drenched, gasping hours and luckily, the fever broke

I've always had a bit of a chronic cough, so life could've been interesting for me had I been living in TO at the time. I'm not Asian, though, so maybe not so difficult as Gloria described other's experiences.

Crazy stuff, I didn't hear any of these personalized accounts while in Montreal. Keep'em coming.

I also remember how they had to read a speech before every exam at U of T listing the symptoms and asking students to leave if they were experiencing any. If somebody coughed more than twice in an exam hall they were asked to leave. I was writing an English exam in Varsity Arena and watched a pretty steady trickle of students walking out during the exam. Pretty easy way to get out of writing an exam if you hadn't studied...

Wow. I just don't recall this sort of paranoia. I took the 504 streetcar everyday and never once saw a face mask or any sort of (apparent) paranoia.

I just remember being amused by some of my fellow travelers who, while flying, insisted on wearing a face mask. The amusing part was when they would take the mask off to eat. What's the point of wearing a mask if you are just going to take it off?

Interestingly, you still have to walk through temperature checks (infrared cameras) at the Hong Kong airport.

The economies are still recovering from Sars in Asia.