Woman Dies on Commuter Train, Passengers Quarentined

[FourScore]

Woman on train did not die of infectious illness: Health officials
Fri, May 9, 2008

Public-health officials have determined that a women who died on a Via train today did not die of an infectious illness.

Dr. David Williams, the acting Chief Medical Officer of Health, said another person was airlifted to Timmins and District Hospital also shows no sign of infectious disease.

Five other people remain quarantined in a separate car in the train with what has been described as an upper respiratory illness.

Williams said they had mild symptoms and were feeling ill before they boarded.

The Toronto-bound train was quarantined just after 9 a.m. this morning in Foleyet, about 100 km west of Timmins.

Laurel Ostfield, a spokesperson for Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman, could not identify the source of the illness but said protocols developed following the deadly SARS outbreak are being followed.

"At this point, we're putting safety first, making sure staff on site are being protected," she said.

Ostfield said the ministry remains confident the Timmins hospital will be able to handle the cases.

There were about 260 people and 30 crew on the train...

Sudbury resident Sarah Guerreiro was visiting her mother, Alanna Sawyer, when the pandemonium broke out. Sawyer, a resident of Foleyet for the past two years, works at the bunk house beside the train station.

Guerreiro described the scene as “scary,” and said there was a lot of confusion among Foleyet residents about what was happening.

“There was yellow tape everywhere,” she told Sun Media. “No one could get anywhere on the CN yard.”

Police and emergency crews weren’t letting anyone off the train, she said, and a helicopter landed with what appeared to be physicians and they loaded one passenger up and took off.

“They were all well prepared,” she said. “It was really scary.”

Other residents of the northern Ontario community were on pins and needles waiting for word on whether they should vacate or whether they will be quarantined...

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