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CNN Live Today
Toronto Fights Back
Aired April 25, 2003 - 10:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Back to the SARS story, Toronto officials say the SARS outbreak is under control if that city. They are furious about being singled out for a travel warning by the world Health Organization.
Jason Carroll has more on this city's efforts at damage control.
Jason, good morning.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, and that debate over the World Health Organization's decision to issue a travel advisory continues here in Toronto. The WHO issuing that decision in part because it says, based on the information that it had, that Toronto had exported the disease to other countries.
But health officials here say the WHO's decision was based on outdated and bad scientific information. The economic fallout here in this city has been dramatic. Hotel occupancy is down. Several major conventions in the city have been canceled. This morning on AMERICAN MORNING, the president and CEO of the Toronto Bluejays spoke out about the economic impact.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL GODFREY, PRESIDENT, TORONTO BLUE JAYS: It will have a severe impact not only on economic growth, but on jobs. There's no doubt that, when somebody like the World Health Organization makes a statement like that, it will be a long lasting statement, because people are making their travel plans for the summer and beyond at this point in time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: And as you can imagine, Daryn, no shortage of opinions on the streets here in Toronto.
Joining me right now, I've got Janet Butters (ph) and Anne Shark (ph). Janet, I'll start with you. What are you thinking of what's been happening in your city so far, especially with the WHO's decision?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think the decision is very unfortunate. We don't see people walking around with masks on right now. We think the city is still very safe.
CARROLL: And I'm going to move over to you quickly here as well. You were talking earlier, saying you felt health officials here doing a good job.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're doing an amazing job. They're work so long and hard to contain this, and the numbers are going down, even they were never that bad compared to other diseases, and I hope people will come and visit in Toronto, because it's a beautiful place and a safe place. We're all living our lives. We're not doing anything differently. So I think people got a different view through the newspapers and the media what's actually going on here.
CARROLL: I heard from someone yesterday saying they felt that the media had overblown the story in the city. Any thoughts on that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, it was a big story, no question, and that's your job.
CARROLL: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But I think the message that came out was a little bit negative, maybe not as negative as the positive things come out, the good job that people had done, and how the numbers really looked. I think all that came out was that wow, some people died, and so that was unfortunate.
CARROLL: All right, we've got Anne Sharp and Janet Butters, thank you so very much for stopping to talk with us early had this morning. I want to point out that the summertime is obviously the big tourist season for Toronto, and the city will soon launch a $25 million marketing campaign to try to win back the tourists they think they've lost through the SARS fears.
Back to you.
KAGAN: They have a big job ahead of them. Jason Carroll in Toronto, thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 25, 2003 - 10:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Back to the SARS story, Toronto officials say the SARS outbreak is under control if that city. They are furious about being singled out for a travel warning by the world Health Organization.
Jason Carroll has more on this city's efforts at damage control.
Jason, good morning.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, and that debate over the World Health Organization's decision to issue a travel advisory continues here in Toronto. The WHO issuing that decision in part because it says, based on the information that it had, that Toronto had exported the disease to other countries.
But health officials here say the WHO's decision was based on outdated and bad scientific information. The economic fallout here in this city has been dramatic. Hotel occupancy is down. Several major conventions in the city have been canceled. This morning on AMERICAN MORNING, the president and CEO of the Toronto Bluejays spoke out about the economic impact.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL GODFREY, PRESIDENT, TORONTO BLUE JAYS: It will have a severe impact not only on economic growth, but on jobs. There's no doubt that, when somebody like the World Health Organization makes a statement like that, it will be a long lasting statement, because people are making their travel plans for the summer and beyond at this point in time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: And as you can imagine, Daryn, no shortage of opinions on the streets here in Toronto.
Joining me right now, I've got Janet Butters (ph) and Anne Shark (ph). Janet, I'll start with you. What are you thinking of what's been happening in your city so far, especially with the WHO's decision?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think the decision is very unfortunate. We don't see people walking around with masks on right now. We think the city is still very safe.
CARROLL: And I'm going to move over to you quickly here as well. You were talking earlier, saying you felt health officials here doing a good job.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're doing an amazing job. They're work so long and hard to contain this, and the numbers are going down, even they were never that bad compared to other diseases, and I hope people will come and visit in Toronto, because it's a beautiful place and a safe place. We're all living our lives. We're not doing anything differently. So I think people got a different view through the newspapers and the media what's actually going on here.
CARROLL: I heard from someone yesterday saying they felt that the media had overblown the story in the city. Any thoughts on that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, it was a big story, no question, and that's your job.
CARROLL: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But I think the message that came out was a little bit negative, maybe not as negative as the positive things come out, the good job that people had done, and how the numbers really looked. I think all that came out was that wow, some people died, and so that was unfortunate.
CARROLL: All right, we've got Anne Sharp and Janet Butters, thank you so very much for stopping to talk with us early had this morning. I want to point out that the summertime is obviously the big tourist season for Toronto, and the city will soon launch a $25 million marketing campaign to try to win back the tourists they think they've lost through the SARS fears.
Back to you.
KAGAN: They have a big job ahead of them. Jason Carroll in Toronto, thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
