The travel restrictions due to SARS don't affect me personally, in terms of where I travel. However, there will be a fair bit of economic fallout in places where WHO has recommended that people avoid as travel destinations.
Toronto is well-liked as a vacation destination and it is more or less the hub of Canadian travel. Their tourism industry is taking a beating over the SARS issue. Conventions have been cancelled and companies are refusing to send their representatives to Toronto on business, with a resultant loss of billions of dollars in tourism and hospitality revenues. The Toronto Blue Jays issued a statement last week that they had considered cancelling all home games at the Skydome and having the team play at opposing team venues for this season, while SARS was a concern. They chose in favour of not cancelling home games - (and this was not mentioned as a reason, but it makes sense) it would have meant refunding season ticket holders to the tune of billions of dollars - I seriously doubt the team could have afforded it.
Toronto's mayor is outraged (rightfully so) at the WHO statement that recommends avoiding Toronto as a travel destination. The CDC has applauded the measures that Toronto has taken to contain SARS through quarantine, precautions and public education and feels that the restriction was short-sighted and ill advised, basically "overkill".
It's going to have a dreadful impact on Toronto's economy, and it's an effect that isn't going to go away simply by the WHO making a statement to the effect that "Toronto is OK now, please forget what we said before". It will take years to recover from that blow.
Seriously, West Nile Virus is the disease we are more concerned about in Canada, but WHO is not issuing any statements regarding it at all. We do know that WNV is spread by mosquitoes, so we are taking measures to (a) reduce the mosquito population; (b) teach people how to avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes and (c) avoid handling dead birds (which also carry WNV if they have been bitten by infected mosquitoes) but are otherwise not a risk to humans because birds generally avoid people.
The thing about SARS is that while we think we know what causes it (coronavirus), we are befuddled as to its modes of transmission. Even when taking every known measure of protection (with the exception of a full body suit that would be used for diseases like Ebola), some health care workers have become ill. That in itself is cause for alarm. It is believed that the coronavirus responsible for SARS can live on inanimate objects for 24 hours - also cause for concern. It's going to make people become obsessive with cleanliness and sterile conditions. While clean is definitely good.... obsession and paranoia are... not so good.
Just my $0.02 (Canadian)
Love, Scully
