Chapter 1361 Influence
February 18, 1920.
Cabinda city.
By mid-February, the entire Cabinda was in a panic. As a bridgehead city connecting East Africa with Europe and the United States, Cabinda was hit hardest by this round of epidemic.
"The whole city is in a state of panic now. The bars, restaurants, clubs and other business places that were once bustling with people are now deserted, and there are few pedestrians on the streets..." a reporter from Cabinda Radio News in East Africa reported to the citizens.
Listening to the radio broadcast, Cabinda resident Rabe said to his wife and children: "The plague is getting worse now. Don't go out and wander around if you have nothing to do."
Because of the plague, schools in Cabinda extended their holidays, so Mr. Rabe's two sons and one daughter stayed at home.
The wife said, "We have seldom gone out since the end of last month. However, going out is obviously unavoidable. Although we have enough supplies of firewood, rice, oil and salt, we still have to buy vegetables, fruits, meat and some things that cannot be stored for a long time regularly."
Rabe said: "Even if you have to go out, you have to wear a mask, at least it can play a role. I heard that European and American countries have also started wearing masks. They used to laugh at us for this, but it turns out that things have changed. Now they are in a dilemma."
"I heard on the news that the number of cases in London has reached hundreds of thousands. In comparison, the epidemic in Cabinda is negligible. This is still the worst case in our city."
Cabinda is the city with the most serious epidemic in East Africa. So far, only about a thousand cases have been found. Compared with the hundreds of thousands of infected people in London, it is indeed a small number.
Rabe said: "Given the current situation in London, I think this is still the most conservative data. After all, the British government did not do a good job of prevention before."
The wife said in surprise: "Oh my God, hundreds of thousands of people are scary enough. If this is still the most conservative data, then it can reach millions. That is almost equivalent to the entire population of our urban area."
The total population of Cabinda is close to one million, and it is shocking to imagine that the entire city's population was infected with the European flu.
Rabe said to his wife: "Don't make a fuss. I heard that many cities in Europe have stopped operating. It's quite good that we can still maintain normal operations here."
"Even so, the hospitals in Cabinda are already overcrowded. I can't imagine what the medical institutions in Europe are like right now. I think most people may be facing a situation where there is no medicine to cure the disease. They can only survive. If they can't survive, it will be very dangerous."
In terms of medicines, East Africa is not in short supply. During the Fourth Five-Year Plan period, East Africa's pharmaceutical industry has developed rapidly, at least in terms of output, reaching the world's top level.
This is due to the East African government's prediction of the European war. After all, after the war broke out, medicine was a very important strategic material in the battlefield environment. It was also one of the most profitable products in East Africa at the beginning of the war.
Although the world war is over now, East Africa's pharmaceutical industry has not stopped. Instead, it has accumulated a large number of production lines and workers, and has achieved docking with epidemic prevention work. In the next few years, East Africa's pharmaceutical industry will still be relatively good.
Ordinary people in East Africa like Rabe already have a lot of medicines in their homes, but most of them are basic medicines with functions such as lowering temperature, reducing fever, and improving immunity.
This is exactly what the East African government hopes to achieve. After all, it is now clear that the epidemic cannot be prevented, or it is difficult to prevent. In this case, more people must be able to survive.
After all, the real horror of the European flu was its speed of transmission, with a mortality rate of around 5 percent. If there were enough drugs, East Africa might be able to reduce its own mortality rate from the European flu to 2 or 3 percent, or even lower, especially in the early stages of the epidemic.
Rabe told his wife: "Now, we have enough food, better sanitary conditions than many European cities, a smaller population density, and enough medicine. Compared with Europeans, we are very lucky, but the most pitiful ones should be those more backward countries."
"Originally, this epidemic was caused by the war in Europe, and countries and regions outside Europe have suffered from this unprovoked disaster."
"What's even worse is that many underdeveloped countries, whose medical, health and government organizational capabilities are far behind those of our industrial countries, can be imagined how helpless the civilians in these countries will be when they are hit by the epidemic."
"For most of them, the fate is likely to be to just tough it out and pretend that this plague doesn't exist."
In fact, what Rabe said was indeed a solution. After all, the mortality rate of the European influenza pandemic was around 5%, which meant that "at most" five people out of a hundred would lose their lives.
This is actually very scary in reality, but for those countries in backward areas, the price of human life is very low, and it can be made up quickly after the epidemic. There is even no need for an epidemic. During the epidemic, the population of most backward countries has increased.
This can be seen from the world wars, which caused tens of millions of casualties, but the world's population continued to grow.
From this point of view, the deterrent effect of the European influenza pandemic is actually far less than that of the Black Death. You must know that the Black Death caused the entire European population to lose one-third of its population.
Of course, this was also influenced by the times. During the Black Death era, human technology and medical levels were still very poor. By the beginning of the 20th century, human society had already experienced two rounds of technological revolutions. At the same time, the medical field was also experiencing explosive growth, and the modern medical industry began to emerge and flourish.
Moreover, at the time when the Black Death broke out, the sanitary conditions of Europeans were, to put it bluntly, not much different from those of a pigsty, so it is not surprising that the Black Death was rampant.
However, what Rabe did not know was that the mortality rate of the current European influenza pandemic might be higher than he knew. After all, the data compiled by the East African government mainly came from domestic cases. However, the medical conditions and sanitary environment in East Africa are above average or even at the best level in the world.
The wife said, "That's scary too. This plague is like a lottery. The news yesterday said that more than a hundred people have died from the plague in the country, and there is still no specific medicine to deal with this epidemic. According to the government's forecast, the number of patients in the country may increase exponentially in the next few months."
Rabe said nonchalantly, "This is not something we can decide. As the old saying goes in the East, if it is destined, it will come true. If it is not destined, don't force it. We just need to do our own thing."
"If we take proper precautions, even if we are eventually infected, we will be the last group. You should know that the country is also conducting research on this epidemic. Maybe by the end, they will be able to develop relevant effective drugs."
Rabe's idea is actually more in line with the views of the world today, especially those of people in industrially powerful countries. Due to the rapid development of science and technology, the mentality of the people in the early 20th century became somewhat inflated, and they inevitably believed that man could conquer nature.
After all, today's society has even begun to achieve all kinds of incredible feats. The emergence of each invention, such as airplanes, cars, ships, submarines, radio, etc., has a direct and huge impact on people's lives today.
…
After breakfast, Rabe put on his clothes and prepared to go to work. Although the plague began to spread in Cabinda, Cabinda's businesses, especially large and medium-sized enterprises, were still operating normally.
Only some shops and workshops were closed, but even if they were open, business was not very good now, after all, many consumers were staying at home and not going anywhere.
Rabe is a worker at the Cabinda furniture factory, which is located in the east of Cabinda. This is normal, after all, Cabinda itself is a city surrounded by rainforests, so wood processing is one of Cabinda's important industries.
As a big city, Cabinda has good consumption capacity, so the business of the furniture factory where Rabe works has always been good.
"Good morning! Rabe." A neighbor wearing a mask greeted Rabe who had just walked out of the door across the yard.
"Morning, Vlad," Rabe responded. "How's work going?"
Vlad frowned and said, "Don't mention it. Last night, the deputy director of our factory called me and said that Hans, a worker in the factory, was infected with the European flu. He has been quarantined at home."
"Our factory notified others to take precautions. It gives me a headache when I think of this. After all, there is already one infected person, so maybe other people in the factory may have been infected."
"This puts me in a dilemma. If I go to work, I might get infected, but if I don't go to the factory, I won't be given leave."
Hearing what his neighbor Vlad said, Mr. Rabe took two steps towards his yard without saying a word.
He said, "Don't worry, Vlad. After all, the mortality rate of European flu is not too high, only about 5%. Most people should be fine if they take antipyretics."
Vlad waved his hand and said, "You don't have to comfort me. I feel that most people will not be able to escape this plague. After all, the epidemic prevention department has also said that unless communication with the outside world is completely cut off, many people are at risk of being infected."
"However, this is obviously unrealistic for different people like us. After all, we have to work and live. It is impossible to hide at home and do nothing. Moreover, cities are densely populated areas, which is more conducive to the spread of European flu."
"Speaking of this, the countryside is actually safer and more self-sufficient. I kind of want to go back to my hometown village."
Rabe also agrees with this point: "The countryside is indeed the safest place now. Unfortunately, our jobs are in the city. If I had the financial means, I would definitely take my family to the countryside to take shelter."
At this time, Conrad said: "Mr. Rabe, your children should have stopped eating by now! In that case, why don't you send them to the countryside and let their grandparents take care of them for a while."
Conrad's suggestion made Rabe's eyes light up. He said, "If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten this. However, my parents have passed away a long time ago, but I can put the three children with my brother."
Most East Africans have relatives in the countryside. After all, the accelerated urbanization in East Africa has only occurred in the past twenty years, and many of the new citizens who have flocked to the cities used to live in rural areas.
They came to the city and obtained new household registration status, but their relatives might not have done so, such as Rabe's brother, who lived in a village in the east.
Rabe said: "After a while, I will send them there and let them experience what my life was like back then."
Conrad said: "I hope this plague will end soon, otherwise we won't be so worried."
The two chatted briefly and then ended the conversation. After all, they had to rush to work.
Rabe arrived at his carpark, opened the door of his car, and squeezed in.
The so-called parking lot is a cement ground built with cement in the yard of Rabe's house. Due to the developed automobile industry in East Africa, many ordinary families can afford cars, and Rabe is no exception.
Before the war, East Africa's automobile industry was already very developed. During the World War, European armies purchased vehicles produced in East Africa on a large scale, and orders from non-European overseas markets exploded, making East Africa's automobile industry even stronger.
By 1920, the car ownership rate in East Africa had reached 60 percent, meaning that most East African households owned a car.
Now, cars in East Africa are cheaper than before, mainly due to the end of the war in Europe, which left East African car companies with a lot of inventory.
Rabe drove out. Due to the impact of the epidemic, there were fewer pedestrians and vehicles on the streets than usual. At this time, most of the people on the road were like Rabe, rushing to work.
East African cities have always been generous in their transportation construction. Unlike European cities, the roads are narrow and the traffic conditions are complicated, so Rabe arrived at the factory smoothly and quickly.
"Good morning, Mr. Rabe," the factory security guard greeted Rabe.
"Good morning, Cruise," Rabe replied. "Same old rules?"
The guard named Cruz said: "Of course, at this stage, everyone has to take responsibility for themselves! Especially in crowded areas like ours."
As he spoke, Cruise took out a spray bottle and sprayed it at Rabe. The spray bottle was mainly filled with alcohol.
Then, Rabe skillfully took out a thermometer and took Cruise's temperature in front of him.
"Thirty-six degrees. Eight degrees, normal. Congratulations, Mr. Rabe, on another healthy day." Cruise wrote on the registration form with a pen.
Obviously, East Africa's means of detecting European influenza are much more backward than in the past. People even need to bring their own thermometers. There is no way around it. After all, there are no thermometer guns in this era, and mercury thermometers have to come into contact with the human body.
Therefore, it is difficult to share. As a result, Rabe and others can only bring their own thermometers to measure body temperature. However, for industrial countries like East Africa, thermometers are not expensive and everyone can afford them. During the period when European influenza was spread, East Africa made it a must-have thermometer for every household to check whether the body temperature is normal at any time.
"Next..." Cruise said to the people behind him after Rabe entered the factory gate.
In order to cope with the European flu, this has almost become the norm in various factories in Cabinda. Factories and enterprises of a certain scale will take precautions.
However, this will only last for a period of time, and that is when the number of infected people is small. If most people were really infected with the European flu, there would be no need for such a complicated procedure.
Therefore, in the early stage of the European flu outbreak, it had the greatest impact on the normal production and living order in East Africa. In the later stage, when everyone was infected with the European flu, there was no need to take these preventive measures. However, by that time, the power of the European flu also decreased a lot.
(End of this chapter)
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