SARS Warning Lifted For Toronto

The World Health Organization lifted its warning against nonessential travel to Toronto, saying Tuesday it was satisfied with measures to stop the spread of the SARS virus in Canada's largest city.

Warnings still stand for Hong Kong, Beijing and two Chinese provinces, as China's premier admitted his government failed to act quickly against the disease.

In return for the WHO's decision, the Canadian government promised to do more to prevent the spread of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, by screening passengers leaving the country.

World Health Organization Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland said the advisory was lifted because there had been no new outbreaks in the community at large for 20 days. She stressed that Toronto is still an "affected area" and travel guidance would be reevaluated if there are any new cases.

The decision to lift the advisory takes effect Wednesday.

The relief they're feeling in Toronto is matched by more then a little irritation, reports CBS News Correspondent Jim Axelord.

"A lot of the headlines that you've been reading and a lot of the TV reporting has been out of whack with reality," said Toronto Blue Jays president Paul Godfrey.

And Toronto Mayor Mel Lastman said, "I don't know what the hell they are talking about anyways because we are in good shape."

The lifting of the warning couldn't have come soon enough. By one estimate, SARS could end up costing the Canadian economy $1.5 billion in Toronto and the entire province of Ontario; a good chunk of that loss will be tourism.

"This is a $20-billion industry to us here in Ontario," says Brian Coburn, the Ontario minister of tourism. "Just in Ontario, it employs half a million folks."

Tony Clement, health minister for Ontario, and his delegation met with WHO officials Tuesday in Geneva. They said Canadian authorities would introduce new screening measures on people leaving the country.

Hong Kong and Singapore already have put such screening measures into effect.

Health officials are stationed at Canada's major airports to watch for symptoms of SARS among passengers arriving from SARS hotspots in Asia, where the illness originated. All international travelers receive information cards on SARS, and similar measures now will be applied to passengers leaving Toronto.

Outside Asia, Canada has seen the most SARS cases, with 21 deaths and more than 140 cases overall. The majority of the cases have been in Toronto hospitals and health authorities have used quarantine and close monitoring and tracking to try to contain the illness.

However, China reported nine new deaths, Hong Kong reported 12 more fatalities, and another person died in Singapore, bringing the global death toll from SARS to at least 355. More than 5,300 infections were reported in more than 20 countries, with probable cases reported for the first time in South Korea, Mongolia and New Zealand.

"There is a need for us to recognize the fact that the SARS epidemic is going to be a long-term, a complex and a relapsing epidemic," Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said at an emergency summit of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Bangkok, Thailand.

"What we lacked was prevention and control experience. Our countermeasures were, by far, inadequate. We have already learned our lesson."

The WHO says the incidence of SARS probably has peaked in many places, but it fears the situation is worsening in China, where 200 new infections were announced Tuesday. There have been at least 148 deaths there.

Nearly 10,000 people who might have been exposed to the virus have been put under home quarantine in China — including 7,600 in Beijing.

Brundtland said now that Chinese authorities were being more open about the extent of the disease, it would be easier to help them.

"We believe we have a window of opportunity to contain SARS globally now," the former Norwegian prime minister said.

Brundtland said the WHO would maintain its advice to avoid all nonessential travel to Hong Kong — as well as the other hard-hit areas of mainland China.

Canadian officials were outraged when WHO advised last Wednesday against non-urgent travel to Toronto, ranking it alongside Beijing and other hard-hit parts of China and Hong Kong. At the time, WHO said the travel advice would remain for at least three weeks — double the maximum incubation period for SARS.

Brundtland said the U.N. agency decided to revise that advice because it effectively was three weeks since the last case in the Toronto area.

The WHO advisory caused an immediate drop in the number of tourists to Toronto, and a concert scheduled for Monday by Elton John and Billy Joel was canceled.

Major League Baseball officials advised caution when players visit Toronto, telling teams to avoid crowds, hospitals and public transportation, and to use their own pens to sign autographs.

Mike Ryan, head of WHO's Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, defended the original decision to issue the travel warning against Toronto.

"WHO has to take decisions for global public health in 191 member states, not just for one," he said.