Despite wall-to-wall coverage of the war in Iraq, Australians woke up last week to the full seriousness of the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak.
While the United States-led military campaign in Iraq has dominated the front pages of newspapers, coverage of the virus' spread has steadily increased as the crisis worsens.
The government has advised people to cancel all non-essential travel to Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Vietnam and Canada, and many travellers have disembarked at airports around the country still wearing face masks.
Airlines are supplying masks to passengers, and pilots on incoming flights have been ordered to contact quarantine officers before landing if they suspect they are carrying possible Sars cases.
Travel agents have been inundated with calls from people wanting to defer or cancel holidays and business trips, and schools have cancelled trips to Hong Kong. A school rugby team returning from Hong Kong to the Gold Coast, in Queensland, has been placed in quarantine, with students and teachers asked to stay at home for 10 days.
A visit to Queensland by a high-profile Chinese delegation, which would have included the vice-governor of Guangxi province, Sun Yu, was cancelled by the Queensland China Council.
Jittery Australian expatriates living in Hong Kong have returned home telling of their fears of contracting the deadly virus and their relief at being back on Australian soil.
