The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

economist sunsuntribune news saturday march 29 2003 students pulled over sars by kathleen griffin staff writer parents of several grade 1 stu dents have pulled their children out of a unionvilie elementary school fearing the spread of sars severe acute respiratory syndrome prompted ontario to declare a health emergency wednesday there are nine con firmed cases in york region 700 people have been quarantined blake reeves is upset officials at all saints catholic school havent demanded students who visited hong kong over the spring break be quarantined they are not ordering anyone home and thats what i have a problem with mr reeves said a number of neighbours who also have children in the class are pulling them out its shocking the school is not erring on the side of caution he said school officials have told parents they are monitoring students who travelled to the far east for sars symptoms york catholic district school board spokesperson chris cable confirmed that policy we are following very closely the directives of the health depart ment she explained just having travelled to hong kong is not a reason to quarantine unless peo ple are displaying symptoms people who have been in con tact with scarborough grace hospital are the ones who must voluntarily quarantine them selves that has been very clear she said she understands par ents concerns she has a son in the system as well we are providing as much information as possible to par ents we are in close contact with the york region health depart ment and we are doing everything we can in following its directives an information letter was sent home with students thursday another went out friday she added people have to look at the facts and not just deal with fear and panic ultimately its up to parents to decide if they want to keep students home and we respect that mr reeves believes anyone who has travelled should volun tarily quarantine himself hes also concerned some parents may not be receiving the required informa tion because of language barriers staff photosjoerd witteveen louise pogue and other staff members at markham stouffville hospital wear protective masks thursday afternoon while advising vis itors and patients about restrictions designed to stem the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome sars local patients in stable condition from page 1 ing the building friday to ensure its safety as it has been empty for some time the town of markham has been working closely with the hos pital to set this up said markham mayor don cpusens said it will be the segregation ward because its a standalone building not connected with anything else dr maclean said the four sars patients are in serious but stable condition none are critical two patients were confirmed thursday the other two on friday all elective surgery outpatient clinics and diagnostic testing at the hospital have been suspended the emergency room remains open for now but patients are being asked to wear masks gowns and gloves to prevent the spread of the illness from people who may have early symptoms but dont know it we have to serve the commu nity and patients have to have somewhere to go dr maclean explained access to visitors is being denied except in the most critical of cases if they are admitted they must wear protective clothing as does all hospital staff the four new cases bring to 16 the number of probable cases in york region with 700 people quar antined fifteen cases have been con firmed in the greater toronto area with a total of 28 across the province thousands of people remain in quarantine three people have died the first confirmed case at markham stouffville is a hospital staff member directly involved in patient care who alsoworks at scarborough grace hospital the first hospital to receive sars patients those patients had recently returned from a trip to honk kong where they came in contact with a medical professor from chinas guangdong province thought to- be ground zero for the virus the professor died march 4 the second msh patient a female was a patient at scarbor ough grace hospital during the time the illness is thought to have spread between march 16 and 26 theres no test to immediately confirm the diagnosis but the col lection of symptoms meets all the sars symptoms along with an abnormal xray dr maclean explained he declined to release anything more about the other patients fifteen cases have been confirmed in the greater toronto area provincial directives the hospital is coping with include prohibiting scarborough grace staff from work ing at any other health care facility the suspension of any hospital-to- hospital transfers and that hospitals establish isolation units to prevent further spread of the sickness i had hoped we wouldnt be exposed we got through the norwalk virus relatively un scathed dr maclean said but our proximity to scarborough grace and the fact a fairly signifi cant number of staff members also work there made it a possibility if someone has had close con tact with anyone with sars they likely have been contacted by the health department already if there is no close contact if someone was just visiting the hospital theres likely nothing to worry about dr maclean added the mor tality rate is only about three per cent the influenza virus can kill people too if someone is feeling ill to the point of hospitalization well make sure youre looked after for more information call telehealth ontario at 1-866-797- 0000 or the york region public health department at 1-800-361- 5653 town employees quarantined seven town of markham employees have been quarantined as a precautionary measure the staffers have either visited scarborough grace hospital where the first sars cases were treated or have been in close contact with someone tied to that facility a notice advising staff to seek medical attention if they feel ill has been circulated said glen walker manager of health and safety business supports budget by jeff mitchell staff writer business is backing this weeks provincial budget which pledges tax cuts for corporations and indi viduals theyre certainly going in the right direction markham board of trade president ruth burkholder said theyre giving our businesses a break and business certainly needs a break the budget delivered thursday by finance minister janet ecker at a magna facility in brampton reduces tax rates for small business and cuts taxes on corporate capital gains the budget also contains tax cuts for wage earners under the 75000 threshold as well as seniors oak ridges mpp frank klees said friday morning the govern ment is delivering on corporate tax cut promises to maintain a vital and viable atmosphere for busi ness in ontario its small and large business that create the jobs that allow peo ple to have security he said vaughankingaurora liberal mpp greg sorbara slammed the tories dedication to tax cuts saying investments in training and trans portation infrastructure will go fur ther toward fostering a healthy business atmosphere and he said the budget relies on unrealistic economic growth fore casts the governments numbers dont add up he said if we have an economic down turn in ontario this budget is an unmitigated disaster but mr klees argued a strength ened bottom line will encourage growth among businesses and help ontarios economy weather any upcoming recessionary trend tax reduction and tax relief particularly in these times are important because every dollar counts he said ms burkholder said savings resulting from tax relief would likely be reinvested in job creation she- cited an employment outlook sur vey recently conducted by manpowerinc which revealed 30 per cent ofbusinesses polled intend to hire staff this spring i would anticipate they would spend the money on hiring more workers she said some of our businesses have been suffering with red tape and high taxes make it harder now serving sudbury and ottawa from toronto buttonville fefe tbeatskiahlmes choose from 18 arrivals and departures daily great morning connections in sudbury to sault ste marie thunder bay and other northern ontario markets take advantage of fares starting at just 99 one way free airport parking and collect aeroplan miles with every trip let the bear take ym there call 905 4778035 or 18004652327 or book online at wwwbearskinairlinescom your travel agent can also tell you about all our great services aerobian