Jakarta Pandemic, The by Steven Konkoly

idea. I don’t feel comfortable with her at the pharmacy either. Patient zero in Scarborough is guaranteed to fill a script there.”
    “Yeah, and judging by the apparent spread of confirmed cases, that may be a possibility sooner than you think.” Alex glanced at his watch. “I’m gonna head home so I can get a quick shower before the Morning View .”
    “Sure thing, Alex. I’ll catch you later today.”
     
    **
     
    He leaned against the footboard of their sleigh bed, facing the television.
    “You’re blocking my view,” Kate complained, propped up by a few pillows.
    Alex slid over to the far left side of the footboard as Weekend Today started.
     
    “Good morning, I’m Amy Robach, with Lester Holt. Welcome to Weekend Today, Saturday, November 3rd, 2013. Overnight, there have been several major developments related to the brewing pandemic, both domestic and abroad. First, yesterday evening, world health officials announced that the flu-like disease spreading like wildfire throughout China, and now starting to hit the rest of the world, is a new H16 subtype. H16N1. Previously, only fifteen influenza subtypes had been discovered in either humans or animals. So far, very little is known about the characteristics of the H16 subtype, aside from reports that the virus is highly contagious among humans.
    “As a result of these early observations, the World Health Organization increased the pandemic warning level to phase four, officially recognizing that the new virus demonstrated efficient human-to-human transfer. Experts predict that the World Health Organization will soon upgrade the pandemic warning level again, in response to the flu’s rapid worldwide spread. So far in our own country, several hundred laboratory-confirmed cases of H16N1 have been reported, striking nearly every major city, with New York City and Los Angeles being the hardest hit.
     
    “In a possibly related story, the Indonesian government just announced a strict travel and communications ban, barring all foreign journalists. Since 2010, strict religious control of media content has cast a thick shadow over Indonesia, and this latest move has launched some speculation regarding a possible major flu outbreak within Indonesian borders.”
     
    The camera shifted to Lester Holt.
     
    “Thank you, Amy. This morning we are very fortunate to have Dr. David Ocampo, from the International Scientific Pandemic Awareness Collaborative, who joins us from his situation room at their headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Ocampo, thank you for appearing on our show.”
     
    “Pleased to be here,” Dr. Ocampo replied.
     
    "First off, the past day or so has brought the fear of a deadly pandemic back into the public spotlight. A novel influenza virus is now confirmed, and the virus is spreading. What is your reaction to the events of the last day and should we be concerned?”
     
    “I think we need to be very concerned. ISPAC field teams have reported widespread pulmonary illness outside of China, and these reports are multiplying at an alarming rate. Only one team has failed to report so far, and disturbingly enough, that team gained access to Jakarta more than twenty-four hours ago.”
     
    “What is holding up their report?”
     
    “Actually, we’ve had no communication with this team since it entered and have petitioned the United Nations to demand that Indonesia allows this team to report to us. Something is definitely amiss in Indonesia. As a matter of fact, without getting too far ahead of a soon to be released ISPAC update, we are entertaining the very likelihood that Jakarta is the epicenter of the H16 virus.”
     
    “But the World Health Organization and our own CDC appear confident that the epicenter is in China,” Lester countered .
     
    “Well, there is no doubt that Hong Kong International Airport was the primary virus propagation hub. Plenty of international flights depart from dozens of mainland Chinese airports, but the initial