Report from the Hot Zone
It's been curiously quiet on public transport in Toronto the last couple of days. Feels like about 60% of normal traffic - extended Easter vacations, or SARS fears?
Noodling this on my ride home last night, I became aware for the first time of the cattle-truck claustrophobia of the subway system. I've been using the tube, here and back in the UK, for 20+ years - but yesterday was the first time I've stopped and really looked around in this context. I found myself suddenly conscious of all the surfaces touched by others - sitting there cautiously avoiding touching my face after holding the handrail.
A woman just down the carriage coughed. Nasty sounding. Several dry hacks with that catching-your-breath uplilt at the end. Like a tennis crowd, the heads swung towards her. I imagined the surgical facemasks snapping into place on several faces.
Young guy opposite sat holding his head low. Tired? Drunk? Headache? Early-stage SARS?
Cripes! I'm surrounded by the buggers. Pressingly hyper-aware of the potential for infection.
My nose started to itch. On the inside. Crap! What do I do now?
Just then I noticed a tiny cut on my thumb, just at the cuticle. The hell did that come from?! I go into a full Thomas Covenant cycle: visual check of all extremities to ensure all is as it should be.
I look up to catch the young bloke across the way eyeing me rather oddly - my hands drop back to my lap and I snap out of it.
This stuff's getting old.
There's 12 million people in Ontario (close to 3 million in the Greater Toronto Area alone) - 136 probable and 125 suspect cases of SARS as of April 22.
What's that - like 0.2% of the people in Ontario? Less than 1% of the population of the GTA? Is that right? And 50% of all cases so far are healthcare workers. What percentage of Toronto residents work in healthcare?
Tiny numbers, but the constant buzz through every news channel even has me spooked. How fast does this spread? How long before those tiny numbers hit an exponent ramp and start tracking steeply upwards?
I need a holiday...
