I have thought almost from the first that this was much ado about not much. The latest figure I have heard is that there have been 150 deaths due to this disease. How many billion people inhabitat this planet? I think 150 people dying out of all those billions is not much to worry about.
I did note that they have begun to immediately isolate patients diagnosed with SARS. Pity that we still can't isolate people with AIDS. I wonder what the death toll from that disease is to date.
I think that it is not only the death toll that is a concern. It seems to me that most people have to have medical intervention. How many respirators does your local hospital have? 10? 20? That isn't very many and it sounds like a vast amount of the ill need such intervention to live through it.