Chapter 167 Outbreak

"What's the matter?"

The old couple and Wang Xiuren all surrounded her as they saw her pale and anxious look.

"What day is it today?" Lin Qiu asked anxiously, holding Wang Xiuren's hand tightly.

"The 28th!" Wang Xiuren replied, "New Year's Day is in two days. Didn't you say that the Internet cafe would hold another recharge event?"

Did SARS start so early?

Lin Qiu only remembered that it was in the first half of the year when Wang Shan was still in the first grade of junior high school. The father of a classmate in their class was arrested and quarantined after returning from Foshan. As a result, the classmate was unable to go to school and could not return to the classroom until it was confirmed that he was not infected with the virus.

"Dad, quickly turn the TV to Yangcheng TV!"

Faced with his daughter's instructions, Lin Ting was confused but still pressed the remote control.

The anchor of the evening news just happened to be reporting: "The city has recently seen a high incidence of influenza, and this influenza virus is particularly contagious. Citizens are advised to keep warm and take disease prevention measures."

Wang Xiuren helped Wang Shan to the sofa. "Protect from the cold? The temperature in Guangdong Province is so high, do we still need to protect ourselves from the cold?"

He even suspected that the news anchor had read the script incorrectly.

The TV is still reporting that the main symptoms of influenza are fever, headache, cough, general weakness...

Lin Qiu's memory of SARS is far less profound than the 2019 COVID-19.

First, Hunan Province is far away and the epidemic is not serious, so she has never left her hometown. That year, Wang Xiuren was making cabinets for his cousin in Yancheng City and was not in an area with a high incidence of the epidemic.

Secondly, online information was not so developed at that time, and the spread of information relied only on television and newspapers.

Finally, when we heard that doctors and nurses were infected, everyone started to worry and get scared.

But now it’s different from the previous life.

The five members of my family, Lin Ping's family, and Lin Huike are all in the high-incidence area, and everyone in the family is running around outside, so we can't be careless.

"Let's go to the drugstore now to buy masks, disinfectant alcohol, and isatis root." Lin Qiu stood up and prepared to go outside.

Her thoughts are a little confused now. She can't remember the epidemic prevention measures for the time being, but the accuracy of masks and disinfectant is engraved in her bones.

When the COVID-19 outbreak occurred in the previous life, masks were a commodity that could not be bought even with money.

"Qiuqiu, are you exaggerating a little too much? It's just a common flu." Lin Ting held her back.

"This is not ordinary flu, this is..." Lin Qiu thought that medical experts have not yet named this virus, so he swallowed the word "SARS" into his throat.

“This is, this is…”

Lin Qiu remembered the call from the old lady, "The old lady at Debao Trading Market just told me that the virus is very contagious this time. Even medical staff wearing masks have been infected, so we have to take preventive measures quickly."

"Is it so serious?" Lin Qing has always been a timid person and he immediately became nervous.

"It's really serious!" Lin Qiu said solemnly, "I heard that someone died."

"Dead?"

Several people said in unison.

Zhou Qing was so frightened that he stood up, and Lin Ting's expression also became serious.

"You and Xiu Ren quickly go to the pharmacy and buy some more masks and cold medicines." Lin Ting ordered, "I'll notify Ping Ping and the others later."

There is a pharmacy near the community. Since the epidemic has not yet broken out on a large scale and people have not paid special attention to it, the couple easily bought masks, isatis root, disinfectant alcohol and other supplies.

"Are you sure you want to buy so many?" the pharmacy owner asked in surprise, pointing at ten boxes of masks.

"Yes, yes!" Wang Xiuren agreed without hesitation, and then explained: "We have a large family."

After paying the bill, Lin Qiu immediately put one on himself and told Wang Xiuren to wear one as well.

But what I didn’t expect was that the masks at that time were still cotton gauze masks with a thick layer of absorbent cotton, which made it difficult to breathe once put on.

Everyone in the drugstore looked at the couple with strange eyes.

Lin Qiu didn't care and walked back with the mask he bought.

Wang Xiuren was not as strong as his wife. Carrying disinfectant alcohol and isatis root, he lowered his head and walked out of the pharmacy quickly, as if he was fleeing.

After returning home, Lin Qiu made a cup of Isatis root for each of the five people in the family. Everyone in the family thought she was too careful about her life and drank it all up.

After Wang Xiuren finished drinking, he called Man Ge, A Xing and Adage's homes, told them the news report and the old lady's call, and asked them to take preventive measures as soon as possible.

There is no phone at Zhao Dalong's house, so Wang Xiuren plans to go there in person tomorrow.

"Your eldest brother and the others are all in Yangcheng. You should also give them a call and explain the interests involved." Lin Qiu reminded.

Although he didn't want to have anything to do with his brothers, he didn't want anything to happen to them at this time, even though they were safe and sound in their previous life.

"Okay! I'll call the third brother's pager tomorrow morning." Wang Xiuren agreed readily.

In fact, even if Lin Qiu didn't say it, Wang Xiuren would tell the other three brothers. No matter what the relationship is, they can't just sit back and do nothing in this situation.

"Let's close our Internet cafe too!" Lin Qiu suddenly dropped a bomb.

"Ah?" Wang Xiuren was a little confused. "How can the Internet cafe be closed? It makes more than 50,000 yuan a month!"

"There are people coming and going in the Internet cafe every day. Who knows if there are virus carriers among them? We can't just ignore the safety of Zhong Hua's wife and Tao brother, right?"

Lin Qiu was reluctant to give up the income from the Internet cafe, but he couldn't increase the possibility of infection for his cousin and his wife when he knew that the SARS virus was highly contagious and harmful.

After thinking for a while, she emphasized: "This flu is not an ordinary cold. It can be fatal."

Wang Xiuren thought about it and was afraid that something might really happen, so he had no choice but to agree.

So, while his cousin and his wife were puzzled, Lin Qiu simply closed the Internet cafe and took a holiday.

The couple thought that since it was already the end of the year, they might as well go home to celebrate the New Year.

In fact, everyone was a little confused, and the relatives and friends who received the notice just thought that Lin Qiu was worrying too much.

Everyone has seen the news reports to some extent, and knows that there is an outbreak of influenza in Guangzhou that is slightly different from the ordinary flu, but no one is as nervous as Lin Qiu.

Ah Xing couldn't help but complain: "Auntie must have watched too many American movies."

But having said that, since someone came over to kindly remind us, we still symbolically bought some masks and cold medicines. They weren’t expensive anyway.

Under Lin Qiu's supervision, the home and convenience store are mopped with disinfectant every day.

No matter who you are, you must wear a mask when going out and wash and disinfect your hands after returning.

Not only that, she also checked her family members three times in the morning, afternoon and evening and measured their body temperatures.

In the end, even Zhou Qing was speechless, "Qiuqiu, why are you so afraid of death?"

"This is not about being afraid of death, this is about taking precautions. This virus is very scary." Lin Qiu explained seriously.

But no one believed it.

It was not until January 2003, when more news reports about SARS appeared, especially after many medical staff in Guangzhou were infected, that people began to take it seriously. However, there were still many people who did not realize the seriousness of the problem at all.