Chapter 29 - Huangshan is infected

The first day of testing in Huangshan was finished, and Zhang Xiaofan managed to apply all the 1000 tests Zhang Yi has prepared before he left with Yu Lexuan. He then consolidates the results from the four testing booths, and was shocked to realize that almost two hundred tests turned red, showing that the disease was widespread already:

-This is very concerning, almost twenty percent of the people have been infected in this small sample... maybe the real numbers are even higher!

Zhang Xiaofan runs to the palace, meeting with Ding Qi, who was drinking tea alone. He bows to him:

-Your Majesty, I have news about the testing!

Ding Qi raises an eyebrow, and quickly moves towards him:

-Zhang Xiaofan, please tell me most people are not infected.

-Well, Your Majesty... do you consider 20 in 100 a good number?

Ding Qi freezes:

-That's too high!!! We need to get prepared! And also, we need to quarantine those people before they spread the disease even more.

-Yes, Majesty, we can do it... I don't know if we will have enough capacity, but maybe we can use some of our hotels to do it.

-Well, this is not a bad idea... But we should make sure people coming in and out of the city also do not get infected. I feel pressed to close the city, but I also think we should deal with it wisely. I'll wait a couple more days until we have a better picture and I also hope the raw material to make the tests will arrive soon from Zhejiang.

-I suggest Your Majesty we must keep close monitoring on the infected to see how they will progress through the disease. We realized that the disease happens in about two weeks, if they survive this time span, the disease seems to stop aggravating. Some people will have sequels and about 3 in 100 will die, which means that we may have six deaths in the next two weeks just from this small sampling. We will need to perform 50 times more testing.

-You can do it, Zhang Xiaofan. It is important for us to keep an eye on it, I'll report it to Zhejiang, and also ask if Yu Lexuan and Zhang Yi returned back home safely. 

-Your Majesty is wise and cares about your people!- Zhang Xiaofan bows.

-You can rise. Please, keep me up-to-date on it. It is really important both for us and for Zhejiang as well.

-Your Majesty, has the emperor replied to your letter?

-Good question, maybe our pigeon is lost or he didn't even bother about checking it. If the disease came from Hefei and he was being that ruthless, new rumors will surface like crazy about how hundreds die each day in his city. And, knowing him as I know, this is almost guaranteed to happen.

Zhang Xiaofan turns around and leaves the room. Ding Qi stays silent:

-That's a crazy high number of infected people in my city, and we are barely testing... I wonder how Zhejiang is doing in this regard.

...

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