Toronto's outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is at a turning point, with thousands of people in the midst of a 10-day quarantine, but it is not clear whether the city's quarantine efforts will succeed. Toronto has a large Asian population that often travels to Asian nations, especially Hong Kong. Companies are preparing for outbreaks, some parents are keeping children out of school, and people are buying up disinfectant and surgical masks. Ontario health officials say that the total number of cases in the province has hit 124, but they note that the public's risk is low. Doctors say they are waiting to see if the disease has been contained in the "second ring" of households; many of those who are sick are health care workers who treated the first patients, or the workers' family members.