Share this Story: EDITORIAL: Lessons from SARS tell us don't panic, but stay vigilant
EDITORIAL: Lessons from SARS tell us don't panic, but stay vigilant
Postmedia News
A man wearing a protective mask walks towards Tiananmen Gate in Beijing on January 23, 2020. Photo by NICOLAS ASFOURI /AFP via Getty Images
There were many lessons this country took from the 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
First we learned of the diligence, dedication and skill of our frontline healthcare workers. Doctors, nurses, other hospital staff and paramedics were at the ramparts of our war on the deadly virus that took the lives of 44 Canadians.
EDITORIAL: Lessons from SARS tell us don't panic, but stay vigilant Back to video
Some paid with their lives. More were made ill. Many were quarantined.
Yet throughout the crisis, they went about their work calmly and professionally and for that we're deeply grateful.
We learned of a system-wide failure to communicate and how ill-equipped the system was to deal with a serious outbreak. When a medical crisis like this occurs, we can never let down our guard. Just when we thought we were through the worst and the disease was gone, it resurfaced to take more lives.
We can't let that happen again.
The lessons were big and small: We needed better surgical masks. Back then, the ones issued to doctors and nurses provided little defence against the disease. We know now that we can all contribute to the well-being of our community by using hand sanitizer when we enter a hospital. We learned to sneeze into a tissue or our sleeve instead of our hand.
Scientific advances have made it easier to diagnose coronaviruses such as this new one from Wuhan, China. The World Health Organization (WHO) declined to call this a world health emergency Thursday.
Still, we shouldn't be complacent. Nor should we panic. Politicians must support our health providers with the resources they need, but doctors, nurses and epidemiologists are the ones who should call the shots.
We can all help. Most of the SARS cases were spread in hospitals. If you don't really need to go to an ER, don't. Speak to your doctor.
We must be vigilant at airports. The world is a global village and health bugs fly fast.
This isn't xenophobia. It's common sense. This country lost too many good people during SARS to put our healthcare providers at risk because we're afraid of criticism.
We have smart people doing great work in our hospitals. Let's remember that – and keep them safe.