NEWS BRIEF
Toronto golf scene looks to move past SARS panic
By John Gordon,
Associate Editor
TORONTO (May 1, 2003) -- The World Health Organization has lifted its warning against nonessential travel to Toronto, saying it is satisfied with measures to stop the spread of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome).
No new cases have been reported in the Greater Toronto Area for 22 days, more than double the incubation period for the disease. As of Thursday, 23 people had died and there were 79 active cases, down six from Wednesday.
While some golf insiders say the industry may avoid the brunt of any fallout from the SARS scare because the golf season in most of the country is barely underway, others are already reeling from its effects.
"We haven't seen or heard anything negative from our members at this point," Nathalie Lavallee, communications director for the National Golf Course Owners' Association of Canada, said Wednesday.
But Charles Lorimer said Thursday that SARS "has affected our business
quite drastically." Lorimer is vice-president of sales and marketing for
ClubLink Corp., Canada's largest golf course owner, operator and
developer. Among ClubLink's holdings are golf resorts such as Rocky
Crest, The Lake Joseph Club and Grandview, all at least 100 miles north
of Toronto, but it also owns several high-profile courses closer to
Toronto.
"The most recognizable label for anyone who might be coming toToronto for a convention, for example, would be Glen Abbey [a ClubLink property 15 miles west of Toronto, and a frequent site of the Bell Canadian Open]," said Lorimer, who also sits on the board of the Canadian Golf Tourism Alliance. "This has hurt us tremendously there, with about seven groups of 40 or more that have either postponed or canceled, because their conference or convention was postponed or canceled."
However, at least one province showed increased tourist interest despite SARS and an uncertain economy. Prince Edward Island, on Canada's Atlantic Coast, said calls to the province's information center were up slightly in April and requests for information kits increased 19 per cent over March. "We remain cautiously optimistic for a good summer season," said Chris Jones, director of policy planning and research for Tourism P.E.I.
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A visit to Toronto, whether it's downtown, to Pearson International Airport, to any golf course, reflects more caution regarding handwashing and personal contact, but little else. Life goes on, more or less per usual. Airport authorities in Toronto and Vancouver, British Columbia, will be implementing fever testing with thermal-imaging sensors, but there are few other signs of anything unusual.
Said Jim Lee, director of the Canadian Golf Tourism Alliance, "While SARS is of obvious concern on a world-wide basis, realistically the chances of anyone coming in contact with the virus is very small while on a golf trip to Canada. However, people have a right to be concerned about travel to the Toronto area, but the recent lifting of the WHO travel advisory should help alleviate any concerns about travel to the Toronto area."
It should be emphasized in Ontario's case that all cases were limited to the Greater Toronto Area, and those who died were either elderly or already seriously medically compromised. Toronto-area health officials emphasized that all cases of the disease, which is not airborne but communicated solely through droplet contact with an infected person, could be traced back to the original cluster of infectors.
Agencies ranging from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to Health Canada have labeled WHO's travel advisory unscientific and unnecessary. That, combined with Tuesday's rescinding of the advisory, was small consolation for Canada's largest city, devastated not so much by disease but by bad, frequently misleading, publicity.
The cost of SARS, stemming from both real causes and from media-driven
sensationalism, will be staggering. In Toronto's case, it may top
$2.1-billion (Cdn), according to the Toronto Dominion Bank. Hundreds of
workers in the hospitality industry have been laid off as a result. The
lost economic activity amounts to between one and 1.5 percentage points
of the country's gross domestic profit. Impacts range from canceled
conventions and sporting events to a drop in hotel and restaurant
business, estimated as high as 80 per cent.
In governmental efforts to demonstrate to the world just how overblown the SARS threat is in Canada, Prime Minister Jean Chretien took his cabinet from the nation's capital of Ottawa to Toronto on Tuesday for a rare out-of-town meeting, and Health Canada issued an unprecedented advisory telling Canadians it is safe to visit Toronto.
Chretien said the economic tidal wave would be felt across the country. "If you go to Europe, you see that people think that Vancouver [on the Pacific coast] is a suburb of Toronto. They don't know that you could fit Europe between Vancouver and Toronto."
Both public and private sectors have announced or proposed measures aimed at attracting tourists this summer. These include waiving hotel taxes, dinner-theater-baseball-hotel packages at reduced prices from Toronto's top producers, and a multimillion-dollar marketing campaign.
As concerns eased in some areas of the world over the status of SARS, health officials in many areas began advising the public to take precautions against the West Nile Virus, a much less potent problem and one with which health officials are familiar.
Last week, a dead crow found just north of Toronto tested positive for signs of the virus which is carried by mosquitoes and can infect not only mosquitoes, birds and humans, but horses and some other mammals as well.
Crows are the earliest indicators of the presence of West Nile Virus, which was first discovered in Uganda in 1937 and now is found throughout most of the world's temperate zones (between latitudes 23.5 degrees and 66.5 degrees north and south).
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says less than one per cent of persons infected with the virus will develop severe illness and of those, fatality rates range between three and 15 per cent, and are highest among the elderly. No vaccine exists. Symptoms are usually mild and may include fever, headache, body aches, skin rash and swollen lymph nodes. Severe infection can be marked by headache, high fever, neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, and paralysis.
Much like SARS, the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions which compromise their health are most at risk, and could develop fatal encephalitis. Once infected, symptoms or not, you're thought to be immune for life. So eventually, West Nile Virus outbreaks should become rare.
The virus caused 274 deaths in the United States in 2002-2003 and 12 in Canada.
Although the chances of contracting West Nile Virus are low, and the odds of becoming seriously ill or dying are remote, standard precautions when golfing or enjoying other outdoor activities include wearing light-colored pants and long-sleeved shirts, shoes and socks, and using an appropriate insect repellent that contains DEET.
