The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 618 - 472: Seeing the Truth in Crisis

In a corner where Nick and the shopping crowd didn’t pay attention, two customers who looked like ordinary old people were sketching and doodling. From time to time, they picked up some vegetables to choose from, seemingly just ordinary customers.

But their occasional exchanges and frequent nodding made them feel more than just ordinary customers.

As time slowly came to mid-June, European countries also began to notice something wrong.

Although there were no large-scale deaths due to influenza at home and abroad, the number of confirmed cold cases was increasing at a crazy rate.

The first case in France in April, which only increased to hundreds throughout April. However, from the end of May and June, hundreds of soldiers and civilians experienced these symptoms every day, not only accompanied by low fever and sore throat but also with extremely intense headaches and loss of appetite.

Although these symptoms seem to be just an ordinary cold, the problem is that ordinary colds do not have such severe contagiousness.

By mid-June, all major cities in France have seen such illness, and no European country has been spared. Only then did people begin to believe in the influenza information published by Australasia.

It was also from this time that Arthur issued several regulations to supplement the current domestic preventive measures.

First, all public places in the country must be disinfected daily. The number of disinfections. Depending on the daily capacity of public places, at least two daytime disinfections are required.

Secondly, cities are completely closed off from each other. Except for the convoys of supplies and other special matters, no idle people are allowed to pass.

Moreover, factories, enterprises, and schools must be closed. Symptoms must be sent to the isolation point immediately. Concealment, non-reporting, and underreporting are not allowed.

For public entertainment venues such as cinemas, they are temporarily closed, and Arthur also requires that all Australasians do not go out without emergencies, not only for themselves but also for others.

This is the first time the Australasian government has dealt with a global scale influenza since its establishment. Due to a lack of experience, it naturally follows how strict it is.

Although more stringent preventive measures have caused significant damage to people’s lives and even the national economy.

But this is also inevitable, much better than high casualties.

People’s lives are far more important than national property, as Arthur emphasized in the Cabinet meeting many times.

To set an example, the entire Sydney Palace is also in a closed state. Besides transporting supplies, the Royal Palace does not allow anyone to enter or exit, naturally including Arthur.

Even the weekly cabinet meetings that were originally held once a week were temporarily canceled by Arthur. It is only necessary to report the latest news of the flu to Arthur in paper form every fortnight.

The government has Prime Minister Kent in control, and Arthur is still very confident. The most important thing at the moment is the domestic flu prevention and control, and other things can be put on hold.

Arthur attaches great importance to the safety of the royal family members. Every place in the palace must go through at least three disinfections every day.

All the people in the palace, including maids and servants, even eat separately, and must be inspected every day. Once symptoms occur, they will be forced to take leave and be transferred to the isolation point.

It can be said without exaggeration that the level of importance attached to this flu in the palace is much higher than outside the palace.

Especially when Margaret and Patricia have both offered their prices, there are only Princess Louise, Arthur, Queen Mary, and the three little guys left in the palace.

Arthur does not allow any loss in the palace, which is also the reason why the palace’s disinfection is so frequent.

Although the disinfectant in the palace often smells pungent, it is better than getting infected with this flu.

It is because of such crazy policies inside and outside Australasia that the Australasian government has almost become a joke abroad.

If it were not for Arthur’s prestige in Australasia being too high, perhaps there would be different voices among the people.

If there is a department and institution that is busiest in recent times, it should be the biological institute affiliated to the Royal Science Academy of Australasia.

Here, they gather top biologists in Australasia, including world-renowned biology experts.

Their current common important task is to try to develop the treatment drugs for this flu, but without specific drugs, they must develop drugs that can suppress symptoms.

However, the progress of drug development is still very slow at the moment. On the one hand, there are not many people in Australasia with symptoms, and on the other hand, they are still mild symptoms. There is no such high fatality situation as Arthur said, so research on high-density virus drugs naturally has no way to start.

In July 1918, Europeans hadn’t been happy for a few months before many people discovered something was wrong.

Since June, people around them have been catching colds rapidly. Although most people’s symptoms are not serious, no cold has spread so fast so far, even a day’s time can make everyone in a small town catch a cold.

Especially in the United States, where the illness first appeared, the flu had already ravaged most areas, and the American Government finally realized the severity of this flu epidemic.

However, the fatality has not yet become apparent, which makes the progress of the Congress in approving the budget for the development of drugs extremely slow, and can even be described as turtle-like.

At the end of July and the beginning of August, a British ship that had just left Sierra Leone in West Africa also experienced an outbreak of the flu.

Before the ship arrived in the United Kingdom, more than half of the crew members had been infected, and nearly 10% of the crew members had already died.

Not coincidentally, almost at the same time, many other ships experienced similar situations, and the fatality rate of the flu was initially demonstrated.

But somehow, the British ships with fatalities did not report the situation to the domestic authorities, allowing the ships to dock smoothly in British harbors, and a large number of crew members returned to their families.

In early August, the flu spread for the second time in Britain. By the end of August, the flu returned to the United States and spread among the dock workers in Boston.

Almost at the same time, the second round of flu also broke out in Brest, France. The second round of flu spread rapidly between Britain, France, and the United States, and quickly spread to more regions in Europe and the United States, and even the whole world.

This round is called the second round of flu because the symptoms of this round of flu are almost the same as those of the first round, but the death rate is surprisingly high.

What’s even worse, the death rate of the second round of flu is concentrated almost among young people aged 20 to 35, which is also the age group most affected by the World War.

Many countries have already suffered huge casualties among their young population in the war, and now they are facing the danger of the flu, causing widespread anguish.

What’s even more unprepared is that the symptoms of the second round of flu appear very quickly. Many people seem normal in the morning, start to show symptoms at noon, start vomiting blood and turning pale in the afternoon, and die at night.

Only then did Europeans begin to restrict people from going to public places and even started to quarantine like Australasia.

But it was already too late. According to incomplete statistics from various governments, by the end of August, this round of flu had already infected millions of people in Europe and the United States, and it couldn’t be stopped.

No one knows whether the people around them will have the flu, and Europeans panic and don’t even dare to go out.

Even more deadly is that some countries lack supplies due to not having prepared in advance.

Even countries that do not lack supplies lack enough manpower to distribute supplies to their citizens.

At present, no one dares to go out. Finding people willing to distribute supplies to the public is entirely impossible.

In the first week of September alone, more than 300,000 Europeans died, and the number of infected people is incalculable.

European newspapers no longer have their previous smiles, and even the headlines of European newspapers and media say only one eye-catching word, "The flu is here!"

Many Europeans now recall Australasia’s preventive policies in advance, and even the Australasian Government promised to treat people for free.

In contrast, their own countries have not only any preventive policies but also cannot guarantee even the most basic supply.

For a time, many people wanted to go to Australasia. However, unfortunately, Australasia has already announced that it will not accept immigrants and tourists at this time, and the reason is for the stability of Australasia itself.

Although this move would cause Australasia to lose millions of immigrants, it has also gained more support for Arthur.

Immigration is important, but gaining true Australasians’ support is even more important. The essential Australasians are the foundation of Arthur’s rule, which must never be overlooked or abandoned.

Of course, Arthur did not forget to brush up Australasia’s reputation internationally. Starting in September, Arthur publicly announced the donation of millions of masks and 500,000 tons of grain to Europe and the United States.

Although the total amount and value of these supplies are not high, in European and American countries even themselves can’t take care of it, it is the first time for Australasia, and it can gain the favor of the European public.

Of course, Arthur would not forget the supplies distributed to the domestic public. After all, donations to foreign countries must be made under the premise that there is enough domestic supply.

If there is insufficient domestic supply and still want to show off, Arthur will inevitably be questioned by the domestic public.

Since the outbreak of the flu, all supplies for isolation and the cost of medical treatment for symptomatic people have been borne by the royal family and the government, which is the biggest difference between Australasia and European and American countries.

Because this not only reflects Arthur’s love for the people, it also shows the gap between Australasia and other countries.

After this flu outbreak, Arthur could proudly announce that Australasia would become one of the most popular immigration areas within a few years.