So far no case of the dreaded disease has been detected here, Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy has confirmed.

Dr. Ramsammy yesterday told journalists at a Press Conference held at the Presidential Secretariat that the Ministry of Health continues to meet daily with these technical partners, and is also in contact with regional technical centres such as the Caribbean Epidemiology Cenre (CAREC) in Trinidad.

Said Minister Ramsammy: “In terms of Guyana’s response to SARS, we have been in consultation with our technical partners…reviewing on a daily basis, the situation worldwide and reviewing our response in Guyana.

And in an effort to keep the disease out, he said, precautionary measures being taken include:

** disinfecting of the International Airport after every flight arrival;

** the issuing of green cards to infected persons entering the country. Such persons will be briefed as to what to do, the Minister advised.

** all hospitals to be equipped with quarantine areas so as to effectively reduce the spread of the disease.

** a hot line to be set up, and a daily press release put out by the Ministry to keep people informed as developments take place, and the measures they need to take in responding to the disease

There will also be monitoring at points of entry such as Lethem, the Corentyne, as well as tightening up loopholes along the borders in outlying locations. The Ministry is working towards posting port health personnel there at such vulnerable points.

And for infected persons who might have slipped through the loopholes, arrangements are being put in place to deal with that development, Dr. Ramsammy said.

Noting that it is the intention of the Ministry that all health facilities should be well informed about the disease and knowledgeable as to how to respond where cases are detected, or persons suspected to have SARS, the Minister said: “We need to keep people well informed.” To this end, he said the Ministry is depending on the media for their cooperation.

Meanwhile, Minister Ramsammy said that the Ministry will consider collaborating with the Chinese Embassy in Guyana as it seeks to develop its strategy against SARS, in the light the killer disease is said to have originated in that country.

To date, the disease which has spread to Canada and the United States has been known to peak in China, Hong Kong and Singapore

And while the World Health Organisation (WHO) had last week issued a warning against unnecessary travel to Toronto, the international health organisation yesterday lifted the travel advisory.

The decision was announced at a news conference by WHO Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland after talks with Canadian officials, including the Health Minister of Ontario, the province where Toronto is located, a Reuters news report said:

“We will be lifting the travel advisory for Toronto, Canada, effective on Wednesday,” .

“The outbreak (in Toronto) has lower magnitude than seven days ago ... so there is a different evaluation one week later,” declared Brundtland, herself a doctor and former Prime Minister of Norway.

Other travel advisories - affecting Hong Kong, Beijing and two major regions of China where the flu-like virus is believed to have originated - “remain the same,” Brundtland said.

The initial WHO decision brought a storm of protest from Canada, which saw the recommendation as a threat to its national economy and especially that of Toronto, its financial capital.

Canada is the only country outside China and southeast Asia where people have died.

Most of the Canadian cases have been reported. from the respiratory disease, which has killed more than 350 people around the globe since it began in southern China last November.

A total of 21 of these deaths have been reported in the Toronto area.

The flu-like SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, is spread mainly by coughing and sneezing and has no known cure. It was brought to Canada and to more than two dozen other countries by unsuspecting air travellers.

Toronto health officials said SARS had now been largely restricted to people working in hospitals where the original cases were taken, but last week the WHO said it was concerned that the disease was still spreading into the local community.