| Postpone travel to Beijing and Toronto warns WHO The World Health Organisation has issued a new SARS-related travel advice notice. Business travellers, amongst others, are being warned to cancel all non-essential travel to Beijing and Shanxi Province, China, and to Toronto, Canada. The Canadian government has reacted angrily to the warning, claiming that it is unnecessary. The WHO warning reads as follows: “As a result of ongoing assessments as to the nature of outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Beijing and Shanxi Province, China, and in Toronto, Canada, WHO is now recommending, as a measure of precaution, that persons planning to travel to these destinations consider postponing all but essential travel. This temporary advice, which is an extension of travel advice previously issued for Guangdong Province and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China, will be reassessed in three weeks time. On 27th March, WHO recommended additional measures aimed at preventing the travel-related spread of SARS. These recommended measures, which include screening of air passengers departing from certain areas, continue to apply. On 2nd April, WHO recommended that persons travelling to Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Guangdong Province, China consider postponing all but essential travel. This temporary recommendation has been reassessed daily and remains in effect. Subsequent information from the Chinese government about the magnitude of the SARS outbreaks in Beijing and Shanxi Province has been carefully reviewed by WHO. This assessment has considered the magnitude of the outbreak, including both the number of prevalent cases and the daily number of new cases, the extent of local chains of transmission, and evidence that travellers are becoming infected while in one area and then subsequently exporting the disease elsewhere. On the basis of this assessment, WHO is extending its 2nd April travel advice to include Beijing and Shanxi Province. Using the same criteria, WHO has assessed the SARS situation in Toronto, Canada. The outbreak in this area has continued to grow in magnitude and has affected groups outside the initial risk groups of hospital workers, their families and other close person-to-person contacts, although all the cases reported have identified links to known SARS cases. In addition, a small number of persons with SARS, now in other countries in the world, appear to have acquired the infection while in Toronto. On the basis of this information, WHO is also including Toronto in the extension of its SARS-related travel advice. This advice will be re-examined in three weeks time, which is twice the maximum incubation period. The WHO travel advice is issued in order to
protect public health and reduce opportunities for further international
spread. SARS is a new disease, first recognised in late February,
that has spread along the routes of international air travel. As
of 22nd April, a cumulative total of 3947 cases had been reported
from 25 countries on five continents. Precautionary measures aim
to reduce the impact of SARS and contain the disease while it is
still in a relatively early stage. All WHO SARS alerts, travel advice, daily cumulative case counts and other information are available at http://www.who.int/csr/sars/en/ " To read an article in the Toronto Star outlining the Canadian government’s response, click here.
•Date:
24th April 2003 •Region: Worldwide/N. America
•Type: Article •Topic:
SARS |
