Yay! Today, the WSJ reported that World Health Organization (WHO) lifted its warning against nonessential travel to Toronto because it was satisfied with local measures to stop the spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus. No new SARS cases has been reported among the community at large for the past 20 days (double the length of the incubation period). The ban is effective tomorrow (Wednesday, April 30, 2003).
In other good news, Dr. David Heymann, the WHO's chief of communicable diseases, said that "the worst is over [with respect to SARS] for Hong Kong, Singapore, Toronto and Vietnam". However, he does not believe there is reason to celebrate yet, "Certainly the risk and the threat of this disease becoming an endemic disease -- a usual disease in humans -- is still very great."
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