Research

The first patient with a probable case of severeacute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Canada wasadmitted to hospital on Mar. 7, 2003,1 in Toronto. SARS is believed to be caused by a coronavirus.2,3 In the absence of serologic tests, clinicians use a standard case definition.4 By April 10, there were 253 suspected and probable cases in Canada. Two hundred and six of these were in On-tario, the majority in the Toronto area. Ten deaths had oc-curred, all in Ontario.1 After March 17, most new cases oc-curred in health care workers.1 Public health efforts to contain the spread of SARS resulted in infection control measures coming to dominate hospital procedures and pol-icy throughout the Toronto area and selected surrounding regions. Provincial public health recommendations, includ-ing restricted access to hospitals, screening of employees entering hospitals, isolation precautions and restrictions o