North York school reopens as SARS scare continues
The re-opening of Dublin Heights Elementary and Middle School on April 7 was one of the pieces of good news as SARS scares continued across the Toronto area.
The Bathurst St. and Sheppard Ave. area school had been closed for a week after it was learned a parent volunteer who had been in the school and had accompanied students on a field trip had come into contact with a person who was suspected to have SARS.
Though no cases were reported, the Toronto District School Board ordered the school closed as a precaution.
Principal Jane Cooper-Eade said most students and teachers had resumed classes like nothing had happened.
"It’s business as usual — all the teachers are here, our vice-principal is here and I’m here," Cooper-Eade said.
However, she said a handful of students did not attend classes, some because they weren’t aware that the school had re-opened and others because their parents were scared about SARS.
"We know that some just didn’t know we were opening today, they hadn’t listened to the news," she said.
"There were a few who were a little cautious, they just didn’t have all the information," she said.
In the days before the school’s reopening, health officials announced that SARS (Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome) had claimed a ninth victim.
What followed was another plea from Toronto Public Health for anyone who attended the visitation at a Scarborough Funeral Home on April 3 to put themselves in immediate quarantine.
The news also comes after a senior who died from SARS April 1 and several members of his family were diagnosed with the disease. Because several people were in contact with the man’s relatives at the Highland Funeral Home at 3280 Sheppard Ave. E., officials said anyone who attended that evening must now go into a 10-day quarantine.
Though officials said it’s not known how many people might have come into contact with the relatives, health department officials were working with the funeral home in an attempt to contact as many people as they could.
As of April 6, Health Canada reported a total of 217 probable and suspect cases of SARS, 179 of them were in Ontario and 26 in British Columbia.
Already, health officials around the world are blaming the Chinese for not being quick enough to tell the rest of the world about SARS.
The head of the World Health Organization was the latest to speak publicly, saying China appeared to have waited too long to release information about its cases.
"It would have been much better if the Chinese government has been more open in the early stages," WHO managing director Gro Harlem Bruntland said.
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Hospitals shut down by SARS: — Scarborough Grace and York Central.
Other local hospitals: — Hospitals in the Greater Toronto Area including Toronto, Peel, York and Halton are only providing essential services and are under a slew of restrictions.
Provincial Hospitals: — All are on a restricted access basis, with only one entrance open and security personnel in place. All who enter the hospital are screened for SARS. Everyone coming in will be screened for SARS and will be asked for a history of all the other hospitals visited within the last 10 days, as well as a contact list of those with whom you’ve come into contact.
Other public facilities under restriction: — Nursing homes, jails and homeless shelters.
Phone Numbers:
— TeleHealth Ontario at 1-866-797-0000. Call if you have symptoms. If you only have questions, but are symptom free, call 1-888-668-4636.
— In York Region? Call 1-800-361-5653.
— Hospital for Sick Children: 416-813-7700.
— SARS information can call the T.D.S.B. (Toronto District School Board) hotline at 416-395-3931.
SARS Clinics:
— Women’s College Hospital, 76 Grenville St., 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day.
— Markham-Stouffville Hospital, (Old Versa Care Building), 6824 Hwy. 7 Markham, 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.
— Lakeridge Health Centre , 1 Hospital Court, Oshawa, noon to 8 p.m.
— Trillium Health Centre, Queensway Site, 150 Sherway Dr., Etobicoke, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day.
SARS symptoms:
— Fever (over 38C), dry cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, breathing difficulty, muscle aches, upset stomach, headaches, body aches, general malaise or weakness.
Who gets it?
— The disease is passed only through direct contact with someone who already has it, which is why so many health workers are being watched for signs of the illness. Those over 40 with weakened immune systems are believed to be the most at risk for serious complications from the bug, but the vast majority of patients who contract it recover completely. But because of the infectious nature of the illness, a 10-day quarantine is necessary to ensure all signs of the illness have passed.
Source: Toronto Public Health
