Chapter 473: The Truth Is Revealed in Times of Crisis

In a corner that Nick and the people who were buying things didn't notice, there were two customers who looked like ordinary old people writing and drawing in the corner, picking up some vegetables from time to time, and they seemed to be just ordinary customers.

But the communication and frequent nodding between the two made people feel that they were not ordinary customers.

As time slowly came to mid-June, European countries also found something wrong at this time.

Although there were no large-scale deaths caused by influenza at home and abroad, the number of confirmed colds was increasing at a crazy rate.

The first case in France in April only increased to hundreds of cases in the whole month of April. But from the end of May to June, hundreds of soldiers and civilians had such symptoms every day, not only accompanied by low fever and dry throat, but also very severe headaches and loss of appetite.

Although these symptoms seem to be just an ordinary cold, the problem is that ordinary colds do not seem to be so contagious.

When it came to mid-June, all major cities in France basically had such symptoms, and many European countries were not immune. People began to believe the influenza information released by Australasia.

It was from this time that Arthur issued several more regulations to supplement the current preventive measures in the country.

First, all public places across the country must be disinfected every day. The number of disinfections. According to the number of people accommodated in public places every day, at least two disinfections are required in the morning and evening.

Secondly, cities are completely closed to each other. Except for convoys transporting supplies and other special matters, no strangers are allowed to pass.

Furthermore, factories, enterprises and schools must be closed and managed, and symptoms must be sent to isolation points immediately. Concealment, non-reporting and omissions are not allowed.

For public entertainment venues such as cinemas, they are temporarily closed, and Arthur also asked all Australasians not to go out without emergency matters, not only for themselves, but also for others.

This is the first time that the Australasian government has dealt with a global flu since its establishment. Because there is no experience, it is natural to implement it strictly.

Although the more stringent preventive measures have caused huge losses to the lives of many people and even the country's economy.

But there is no way, it is better than a high number of casualties.

The lives of the people are far more important than the property of the country, which Arthur emphasized many times in the cabinet meeting.

In order to set an example, the entire Sydney Palace is also closed. In addition to transporting supplies, no one is allowed to enter or leave the palace, and Arthur is naturally included.

Even the cabinet meeting that was originally held once a week was temporarily cancelled by Arthur. Not only does it need to report the latest news of the flu to Arthur in paper form every other week.

The government is under the control of Prime Minister Kent, and Arthur is still very relieved. The most important thing at present is domestic influenza prevention and control, and other things can be half a step later.

Arthur attaches great importance to the safety of royal family members. Every place in the palace must be disinfected at least three times a day.

Everyone in the palace, including maids and servants, even eats alone, and is examined every day. Once symptoms appear, they will be forced to take leave and transferred to the isolation point.

It is no exaggeration to say that the importance of this flu in the palace is much higher than outside the palace.

Especially when Margaret and Patricia had already made their bids, only Princess Louise, Arthur, Queen Mary and the three little ones were left in the palace.

Arthur did not allow any losses to occur in the palace, which was why the palace was disinfected so frequently.

Although the palace was often filled with a pungent smell of disinfectant, it was better than being infected with the flu this time.

It was precisely because of such crazy policies inside and outside Australasia that the Australasia government almost became a laughing stock abroad.

If it were not for Arthur's prestige in Australasia being so high, I'm afraid there would be different voices from the public.

The busiest department and institution in recent times should be the School of Biology under the Royal Academy of Sciences of Australasia.

Here are the top biologists in Australasia, including many world-renowned biological experts.

They currently have a common important task, which is to try to develop a treatment for this flu, but if there is no specific medicine, they must also develop a drug that can suppress the symptoms.

However, the progress of drug development is still very slow. First, there are not many people with symptoms in Australasia. Second, they are all mild symptoms, not as lethal as Arthur said. Naturally, there is no research on drugs for highly dense viruses.

In July 1918, Europeans had not been happy for a few months, and many people found something wrong.

Since June, the number of people with colds around has increased rapidly. Although most people's symptoms are not serious, so far, no cold has spread so fast that even a small town can catch a cold in one day.

Especially in the United States, where the disease first appeared, the flu has ravaged most areas, and the US government has realized the severity of this flu.

However, the lethality has not yet been reflected, which has also made the progress of the US Congress's approval of the budget for drug development very slow, and it can even be described as a turtle's pace.

At the end of July and the beginning of August, a British ship that had just left Lion Rock in West Africa also broke out in influenza.

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

Coincidentally, at almost the same time, many ships also experienced the same situation, and the lethality of influenza was initially reflected.

But somehow, the British ships that had already died did not report the situation to the country, which allowed the ships to dock smoothly at British ports and a large number of crew members to return to their families.

In early August, influenza spread again in the UK. At the end of August, influenza spread back to the United States and spread among dock workers in Boston.

At almost the same time, a second round of influenza broke out in Brest, France. The second round of influenza spread rapidly between Britain, France, and the United States, and soon spread from these countries to more areas in Europe and the United States, and even the whole world.

It is called the second round of influenza because the symptoms of this round of influenza and the second round of influenza are almost the same, but the mortality rate is surprisingly high.

What's more deadly is that the mortality rate of the second round of influenza is almost concentrated in young and middle-aged people aged 20 to 35, which is also the age group most affected by the world war.

The young and middle-aged people in various countries have already suffered huge casualties in the war, and now they are facing the danger of influenza, which makes all countries wail in an instant.

What is even more unexpected is that the symptoms of the second round of influenza appear very quickly. Many people look normal in the morning, start to show symptoms at noon, start to vomit blood and turn blue in the afternoon, and die in the evening.

Europeans then began to restrict people from going to public places and other areas, and even learned from Australasia to quarantine.

But it is too late. According to incomplete statistics from various governments, as of the end of August, this round of influenza has infected millions of people in Europe and the United States, and it is obviously impossible to stop it.

No one knows whether the people around them will have influenza. Europeans are panicking and dare not even go out.

What's more terrible is that because there is no preparation in advance, some countries even lack supplies.

Even countries that do not lack supplies lack sufficient manpower to distribute supplies to the people.

The current situation is that no one dares to go out, and it is even more impossible to find people willing to distribute supplies to the people.

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

European newspapers no longer have the smiles of the past. Even the newspapers of European newspapers and media have only one eye-catching line of words, that is, "Flu is coming!"

A large number of Europeans only now remember that Australasia has implemented preventive policies in advance, and the Australasia government has even promised to provide free treatment to the people.

Looking at their own countries, not only do they not have any preventive policies, but even the most basic supply of materials cannot be guaranteed.

For a while, many people wanted to go to Australasia. But unfortunately, it was not as expected. Australasia had already announced that it would not accept foreign immigrants and tourists at this time, on the grounds of stability in Australasia.

Although this action would cause Australasia to lose millions of immigrants, it also allowed Arthur to gain more support from people.

Immigration is important, but it is more important to gain the support of real Australasians. The most fundamental Australasian talents are the foundation of Arthur's rule, which must not be ignored or abandoned.

Of course, Arthur did not forget to brush up Australasia's reputation internationally. Starting from September, Arthur publicly announced that he would donate millions of masks and 500,000 tons of food to Europe and the United States.

Although the total amount of these materials is not much and the value is not high. But under the premise that European and American countries can't even take care of themselves, Australasia is the first one, and it can also gain the favor of European people.

Of course, Arthur will not forget the materials distributed to the domestic people. After all, donations can only be made on the premise that the domestic people have enough materials.

If Arthur still has to swell his face and fill it with fat when there are insufficient domestic materials, then he will inevitably be questioned by the domestic people.

Since the outbreak of influenza, all quarantine materials and the medical expenses of people with symptoms are all borne by the royal family and the government. This is also the biggest difference between Australasia and European and American countries.

Because this not only reflects Arthur's characteristics of loving the people, but also shows the gap between Australasia and other countries.

When this influenza is over, Arthur can proudly announce that Australasia will be one of the most popular immigration areas in a few years.

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