Sars 'under control in Toronto'

Airport screening measures are to be tightened

A Canadian delegation is in Geneva to try to persuade the World Health Organization (WHO) to withdraw advice to travellers to avoid the city of Toronto.

Twenty-one people have died from the Sars virus in the Toronto area and a further 69 patients remain in hospital.

In an attempt to demonstrate that Canada's largest city is a safe destination, Prime Minister Jean Chretien is to chair a cabinet meeting there later on Tuesday.

Canada, the only country outside Asia where people have died of Sars, has been angered by the WHO warning, which has proved costly for the country's financial capital.

Conventions have been cancelled, hotels and restaurants have suffered, and the Bank of Canada fears the drop in business activity could lower overall economic growth.

On Monday, WHO officials said Sars outbreaks had peaked in Canada.

Canada's politicians and health officials are hopeful that the latest evidence on the country's efforts to combat the virus, along with the fact that there have been no new Sars cases among the general public for three weeks, will persuade the WHO to change its advice.

"We're not completely out of the woods but I would have to say that the outlook is looking very positive," said Ontario province Health Minister Tony Clement.

"Thus far we have been able to protect the community from the casual spread of Sars."

Infra-red scanners

One of the WHO's main concerns was that the virus had been carried by someone travelling from Canada to the Philippines.

Canadian Health Minister Anne McLellan said Canada would tighten airport screening measures as soon as possible, and was considering using hi-tech equipment such as infra-red devices to detect passengers with a fever.

She added: "Sars is controlled and contained in the city of Toronto. It's safe and life is moving forward in a normal way."

The BBC's Susannah Price, in Toronto, says critics suggest Canada's case at the WHO could have been helped by the announcement of some concrete screening measures.

Toronto is to host a two-day international conference on Sars, beginning on Wednesday.

Those invited include health officials from the WHO, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Pan-American Health Organization and the Association of South East Asian Nations.