"Your Highness..."

Alva was prepared in his heart, and he was the first to react among the stunned colleagues, and smiled embarrassingly, "Well, you are a noble princess, so it's not good for you to meddle in such a dirty matter, right?"

Although she has a noble status, to be honest, there is no precedent for a princess to intervene in politics in history.

"What did Mr. Mayor say?" Joy sneered, "How can it be dirty to save lives?"

Of course she knew what he wanted to say.

"If you have doubts about my authorization, you can send a telegram to Madrid to confirm—you can do it now, and I'll be here to watch you send it, no problem."

Alva smiled awkwardly: "No, no, of course I can't doubt your authority. You are obviously one of the most trusted people of His Majesty the King."

That's easy to say.

How much manpower and material resources will be used for blockade, isolation, and investigation?

Barcelona is a city based on trade, how much loss will this series of measures cause?

When the people are panicking to the extreme, and the government takes such extreme actions, causing a large number of citizens to flee wildly, how can they stop it? Can they stop it?What to do if it causes unrest?

On top of that, every time cholera suddenly swept through cities without warning, there was nothing people could do about it.Countless politicians, doctors, and scientists have tried to find a way to fight it, but in the end it might even be better to do nothing.

How to deal with cholera?

When Death has harvested enough lives, he will put away his scythe and leave on his own.

Until the next offering|sacrifice moment comes.

However, speaking to Her Royal Highness, she probably didn't understand these things.

Alva can only choose the most plain language.

"Yes, you are right, of course life is the most important thing. The question is, can we save people by doing this?"

He stammered, "Look, cholera is an infectious disease caused by miasma. We are human beings, not gods. You can't keep everyone from breathing, right?"

For a moment, Joey didn't know whether to cry or laugh.

... My dear, this is the limitation of the times.be patient.

She sighed, "Mr. Mayor, all the patients started with vomiting and diarrhea. This is clearly a typical infectious disease of the digestive tract."

"If it's really the respiratory infectious disease you mentioned, the symptoms should be cough, headache, fever, etc. - what's more, if it's the so-called 'miasma', it doesn't make sense that after it spread from other cities, only people in a certain area of ​​the city center would be infected."

"Uh..." This is too professional, and it's not an area he knows as a politician.

Alva finally had to shut up.

Well, Her Royal Highness said yes.

However, he began to waver - what she said really seemed to make sense.

Joey looked firmly at the officials in the room: "Maybe everyone remembers that I promoted the first aid method of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The research on blood type is also in progress, and the success rate of blood transfusion has been greatly improved today."

"Believe me, there is nothing we can do about cholera."

Cholera is not a terminal illness.

When the source of infection is clear, its isolation and treatment are simpler than other severe infectious diseases.

First, the panic must be stopped, the sick must be isolated, and large-scale spread must be prevented.

Because of a large amount of water loss in a short period of time, the patient needs timely rehydration treatment and antibiotics to treat inflammation.

At the same time, the source of infection should be locked as soon as possible.

These measures will become common sense in future generations, but these common senses come from trial and error that human beings pay a fatal price time and time again.

Experience is a valuable asset.Individual wisdom can be promoted into collective measures, and the experience can be passed down from generation to generation. This is the fire for the survival of human civilization—it is also the greatest advantage that people in later generations have compared with people in earlier generations.

After listening to Joey's calm and clear explanation, the officials in the office fell silent.

They exchanged hesitant eye contact for a moment—maybe this would actually work?

After all, this is a princess.

And she was no ordinary princess.

She literally saved hundreds of lives.

What if?

A plague catastrophe meant several years of stagnant development for the entire city of Barcelona, ​​and for them, it meant the destruction of political careers—and possibly their lives.

After all, it would be good news for them if the plague could really be controlled in the way the princess said.

They are simply afraid that measures that will provoke public outrage will end up being ineffective, and even more people will be harmed - so that public anger will be further burned on the government.

In the end, Alva saluted Joey solemnly, "Your Highness, I hope you really understand what you are doing."

"I probably know better than you think," Joey replied.

Joey immediately sent a telegram to the central government, explaining the current situation in Barcelona, ​​asking Madrid to support drug resources, and be careful of patients who may flow out.

Afterwards, she thought about it, and quickly asked Pascal to send a telegram to the Impressionist painters in Paris—the situation in Barcelona is not very good now, so don't come here in the short term.

Not long after, she received a slightly vehement reply from Madrid, asking her to leave Barcelona as soon as possible, and the king would send someone to pick her up.

Presumably it meant my brother.

Joey calmly declined the request.

In her position to pursue her own affairs, her current identity is, after all, just as she said, the princess of the Kingdom of Spain.

And a princess living in Barcelona.

If she leaves now, it will almost confirm many speculations of the public.

The country has just ushered in a stable new life, Alfonso is still leading troops to attack the remaining Carlos forces in the south, and the people of Barcelona have just successfully bid to host the World Expo, and are happily preparing to build the city to welcome the unprecedented event five years later.

All hope for a better future, but a single plague could crush all their hopes.

She couldn't just wait for that day by doing nothing.

"According to your instructions, the confirmed patients have been quarantined." The Minister of Health reported to Joey with a solemn face.

The urgently established command headquarters was located in the city hall, and Joey also started a temporary office life in the city hall.

"But that... what disease investigation are you talking about?" "Epidemiological investigation." Joey corrected patiently.

It's a concept people haven't heard of.

"Oh, yes." The Director of Health scratched his head, "The results of the investigation, how should I put it...very strange."

At present, it seems that cholera is most likely to spread from northwestern Spain, because there have been reports of cholera outbreaks in the countryside from the Basque Country to Zaragoza.

But in the city of Barcelona, ​​the plague broke out at multiple points at the same time.

According to the investigation results, except for the patients under the same roof, many other patients do not know each other.They lived and worked on many streets in the extension and the old town without contact with each other.

"No contact? Is there any experience of going to the same place successively, or other things in common?" Joey wondered.

"No. However, there are a few streets with a particularly high number of patients-including Cherry Street where your Fernandez House is located." The Minister of Health pointed to the city map.

"Hmm..." Joey frowned.

In the Fernandez House, only Marie was infected, and it was basically determined that she went to St. Angela Hospital with Belen two days ago.

Cholera is an infectious disease that spreads from person to person.How did the germs spread so quickly if there was no contact?

"Your Highness, there is another matter that may be equally serious-there will be insufficient nursing staff now."

The outbreak of the plague has begun to squeeze medical resources.

"Let's recruit volunteers. The personnel who maintain the normal operation of the medical system are definitely not enough in emergencies."

"We are already doing this," religious charity services are also a long-standing tradition," but during the plague, the risk of this work has increased a lot, and people dare not risk their lives. There are almost no volunteers... ..."

"Director!" There was a hasty knock on the door, and there was panic in the voice, "Please take a look at this newspaper!"

"We have reason to believe that this is a joint conspiracy between the royal family of Madrid and the nobles of Barcelona to cleanse the citizens. Now, the nobles have boarded the trains, horse-drawn carriages and luxury cruise ships fleeing Barcelona, ​​but they have imprisoned us low-level citizens. The family is not allowed to leave the city!"

"The air in this city has been polluted. If all of us don't escape, we will die here sooner or later!"

The tabloids sensationalized the editorial, and sales exploded—at a time when public trust in government was most needed.

The work of the city hall seems to add fuel to the fire.

At any time, there are always people who take advantage of disasters to make a fortune.

"Right now, the public has generally begun to panic... relying solely on the current police force, I'm afraid it won't last long."

I'm afraid that by then, even stability will become a luxury.

This is the most dire consequence of the plague when it strikes.

"Let me think about it." Joey felt his eyebrows throbbing and waved his hand wearily.

After the Director of Health left, the office on the fourth floor facing San Jome Square suddenly became much quieter.

She buried her face in her palms.

The source of infection must be found quickly, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous.

There are also patients who are difficult to receive timely care...

With the promulgation of the state of emergency, the nerves of the citizens of the city have collapsed to the extreme, just like Barcelona's medical system and social stability at this time.

In an era when medical common sense is not yet common, it is too difficult to convince everyone that cholera can be controlled... People need a credible explanation that allows them to actually see hope.

Otherwise, the catastrophe that killed one-third of the city's population more than a century ago is a lesson for them at this moment.

But what is the source of infection?

Joey opened his eyes, and he didn't know how many times he opened the first epidemiological investigation report in Barcelona's history, which was condensed with the efforts of countless people.

The door of the room was knocked three times suddenly, "Joy?"

It was Antonio's voice.

"It's really not easy to see you now, Your Highness the Princess." When he walked into the room, he said lightly, and patted the still-dried alcohol on his hands.

"Of course, you are a suspicious carrier after all." Joey replied angrily.

Antonio walked behind her, looked down at the map spread out on the table, "What are you looking at?"

On the detailed urban map, large and small red circles are marked.

"Looking for the source of infection." Joey sighed, "Can you see any patterns?"

On the map, the area with dense red circles intersects several streets vertically and vertically. However, in the investigation of these streets, the distribution of cases is not continuous. It is difficult to explain the spread of cholera by human-to-human contact.

"Rules? Isn't this very clear?" Antonio asked back.

"What? Clear what?" Joey asked in surprise.

"The connection line of the red circle is the water supply pipeline of these streets." Antonio leaned over and picked up the pen on Joy's desk, stretched out his hand from the side of her face, and began to draw on the map, "A pipeline runs from Lu Carr Street to Manga Road, then to Cherry Street, where Fernandez House is."

"Another pipeline runs through two streets on this side. It and this line carry a terminal tributary of the Loboga River."

Following the connection line drawn by Antonio, the case points marked on the map are strung together one by one like scattered pearls.

Joey's eyes began to thump as he drew the line.

It turned out to be a source of water!

Perhaps because of the impact of the epidemic in later generations, she had previously focused on human-to-human infection.

But cholera is a different disease.It can survive in the water for a long time and flow into every household with the water supply system.

Except for a few sporadic cases caused by direct contact with patients, all the patients were concentrated on the two routes of water supply pipes.

On these several routes, the only exception to all the houses is the House of Fernandez.

— the only case there was acquired from the hospital.

Joey understood why in an instant.

Because of her preference, the water used for drinking at Casa Fernández is boiled first.

Although not everyone "drinks more hot water" like her, taking boiled water has become a habit for everyone.

This is the key to the public response to cholera!

Joey stood up excitedly, and the back of his head hit Antonio's chin with a "bang".

"Hiss..." She held her head and grinned, but exclaimed in surprise, regardless of the pain, "Oh my god, how did you remember the wiring of the water supply pipe?"

Antonio rubbed his chin casually, and glanced at her inexplicably, "The city map used to plan the tram line previously marked the water supply pipelines of the whole city, and the markings are very clear."

"..." Joey was at a loss for words.

Yes, it is clearly marked.

But at that time, they had seen no less than dozens of maps, and there were at least a few thousand pipelines on that map alone!

Antonio actually memorized all this?

At first, he wanted to question a few words, but just as Joey was about to speak, he immediately remembered the notorious habit of someone designing a building without using blueprints, and modifying the model according to the idea at any time.

Compared with directly constructing a three-dimensional building containing thousands of parts and interfaces in the mind, memorizing the direction of thousands of water pipes on the flat map suddenly seems less exaggerated.

... Is this the world of the boss?

Joy was about to run out, but when she opened the door, she almost bumped into the secretary assigned to her by the city hall temporarily.

"Ah, Miss Gordy..." The little secretary was taken aback, "I'm very sorry!"

Because of the crazy public opinion at this time, with Joy's acquiescence, the city hall did not announce her identity to the public.Except for a few high-level officials, most people just thought that Miss Gordy had been hired as a special adviser to deal with cholera because of her previous contributions to medicine.

"It's okay, I ran too fast—what's the matter?"

"Miss Batllo—I mean, Miss Olanpu Batllo, has sent you a letter."

Joey opened the envelope in twos and saw Olanpu's scrawled and arrogant handwriting inside——

[Dear Joey:

There is no need to worry about the shortage of nursing staff.

The girls my bookstore and I have helped (about [-] or [-]), and many rich ladies like you and me, some do not want to accept the marriage established by the family, some do not want to be controlled by the family, and some Having just filed for divorce, we're more than happy to take on patient care—we're meticulous, patient, and careful enough to be bold enough.This is exactly what we are good at.

Command the city with peace of mind!We all believe that you will be able to lead Barcelona to defeat cholera, as you did for Laura before. ]

[Love you Olanpu]

"Miss, do you have any orders?" The secretary carefully watched Joey's expression.

Joey closed the letter and took a deep breath.

"Please contact the major newspaper offices stationed near City Hall."

"I'm going to issue a statement now."

She had to tell the townspeople that she hadn't left them to run for her life.

Under limited conditions, information scarcity is an almost unavoidable problem in a society's emergencies.The panic is understandable.

People need information.Truthful, undistorted, holistic information.

"I have to tell them that we -- the brightly lit city hall, the busy doctors, nurses and well-meaning people who volunteered to care for them, and the sick people who are fighting doggedly against the germs of cholera, we are all fighting."

"This is not a war between humans and humans, but a war between humans and plagues."

The author has something to say: Thanks to Lei, the little angel of water beauty, and thanks to the nutrient solution that I love pepper~

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