Couple fears paranoia more than SARS

WHO refuses to rescind its call for people to avoid pair's hometown of Toronto.

ST. PETERSBURG - Wayne Squirell said definitely not. He and his wife are not afraid to fly home to Toronto on Saturday. This whole SARS scare is probably overblown, he said Thursday night as the couple watched the Toronto Blue Jays at Tropicana Field.

It's too soon to panic, he said. And then he leaned forward in his seat and looked around, as if to see if anyone was listening.

"But you know what," he said in a soft voice. "We're not telling anyone we're from Toronto. And I told my wife not to say anything, either. We only left 12 days ago, and we don't want people to get paranoid."

As the Squirells agonized over their hometown, Toronto staggered Thursday under a health alert that warned people to stay away because of the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, which has killed 16 people in the Toronto area.

With shops mostly empty, conventions canceled and growing fear of long-term economic damage, the World Health Organization refused a request by the Canadian government to rescind its call for people to avoid Toronto, Canada's largest city with a population of more than 3-million.

Canada has reported 330 probable or suspected cases of SARS in the Toronto area. While no one wears masks on the downtown streets, some customers want their change placed on the counter instead of in the hand.

Since SARS first appeared in Toronto about a month ago, the city's 400,000-strong Chinese community has been hardest-hit, with restaurants and shopping malls reporting business down 70 percent.

In the United States, hospitals and health departments are screening anyone who comes in with a fever higher than 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit, headache, muscle aches, chills or sweats and dry cough, particularly anyone who's recently been to parts of China, Hong Kong or Toronto.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 247 SARS cases in the United States as of Thursday, but only 39 were classified as "probable" cases. All but two were recent travelers to China, Hong Kong or Toronto.

No one has died from the illness in the United States, but globally, the virus has killed more than 260 people.

Toronto wasn't under siege when Wayne and Elizabeth Squirell left their home in suburban Brampton for a two-week vacation in Florida.

Wayne, 51, is a buyer for a ceramics company, and Elizabeth is a property management administrator. Since 1996, they've been trying to visit every Major League Baseball park in America.

On Thursday, they found themselves rooting for the Blue Jays in their game against the Devil Rays.

Elizabeth had been down by the Toronto dugout before the game, trying to get autographs.

"What about them?" she said, nodding toward the players in the gray and blue uniforms. "They go home tomorrow and have to be around a lot of people."

Said Wayne: "When we get back, I'm definitely going to avoid hospitals. And Chinese people. I'm not prejudiced, but I've got to be careful, too.

"We've had a great time here, but it is in the back of your mind," he said. "More so lately. I called home last night and talked with my mother.

"SARS was about all we talked about."

- Information from Times wires was used in this report.

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