Simulation Game: Crisis Management

Chapter 581 - 263: Super Patient

The reason Gu Ji let a few people go.

On one hand, he simply didn’t take these Mountain Dog Gang thugs seriously at all; all his focus was on resolving this sudden public health crisis;

On the other hand, although the Mountain Dog Gang were reckless, they hadn’t tried to kill him yet.

That’s right.

Although the hospital room was dark before his death last week, he vaguely saw the eyebrows and eyes of that fake nurse, especially the voice.

Don’t forget, Gu Ji has always had an auditory imprint.

The person’s voice was bright and full of energy, unlike anyone from the Mountain Dog Gang.

After finishing the outpatient department’s business.

At four in the afternoon, Gu Ji met with Jiang Youzhen on time, preparing to head to the restaurant to prepare for tonight’s banquet.

Since all the attendees were important figures, Jiang Youzhen had dressed up carefully, wearing a white deep-V base shirt inside, covered with a black short-sleeve suit, with slightly curly short hair naturally falling on both shoulders, appearing elegant and business-like.

"Tonight our main target is this person."

In the back seat of the Mercedes S450, Jiang Youzhen pulled out a piece of paper from a folder and handed it to Gu Ji, who was sitting beside him.

"Cheongwadae Secretary Director?"

Gu Ji did not expect the visitor from Cheongwadae to be the Secretary Director.

The Cheongwadae Secretary’s Office of South Korea is a confidential department responsible for handling the President’s confidential matters and protocol arrangements. In plain terms, it’s equivalent to an assistant by the President’s side, responsible for strategizing and representing him at events he cannot attend.

Just as Jiang Youzhen had said.

If they could really get the agreement of the Secretary Director, it would be easy to obtain a special presidential decree!

Arriving at the hotel entrance.

The restaurant’s private room was located on the 66th floor of the office building hotel, originally offering a bird’s-eye view of Seoul’s bustling nightlife. However, now, public transportation and bustling streets were noticeably less crowded, with some people even wearing masks. Even the driver remarked that the evening rush hour through the center of Seoul was surprisingly smooth, saving nearly half the usual time.

At mealtime, the executives on the guest list finally began to arrive one after another.

Among them was an "old acquaintance" of Gu Ji, with white hair combed back, the head of the Crisis Response and Analysis Department of the Disease Control Headquarters last week, Zheng Yinseng. Another, a member of the National Assembly who seemed the youngest, with hair combed in a three-seven style, squinted his eyes, appearing somewhat cunning.

The main guest was a middle-aged man, slightly balding, wearing thin-framed glasses.

Cheongwadae Secretary Director: Li Xianzhen.

"I have a short meeting tonight, and time is limited, so let’s get started." Li Xianzhen, worthy of being the President’s secretary, acted decisively and went straight to the point.

Jiang Youzhen glanced over secretly.

Gu Ji understood without needing words, realizing he was to be the speaker. He proceeded to distribute the MERS investigation team’s prepared documents to everyone, explaining the current severity of public health safety in South Korea.

"You want to publicly disclose the list of infected hospitals and patients’ movement tracks? That’s too difficult."

Unexpectedly, shortly after looking through the documents, Zheng Yinseng from the Crisis Response and Analysis Department spoke up in opposition.

"You know, once the news spreads, no one would dare to seek medical care, and it would also cause undue anxiety and misunderstanding among the public; for hospitals, this would mean a significant economic loss, and if they don’t properly care for patients, the ordinary citizens will suffer in the end."

"Mr. Zhang, the most affected Seoul Central District is your constituency, what do you think?"

Li Xianzhen didn’t rush to state his opinion but instead turned to ask the young Mr. Zhang.

Mr. Zhang awkwardly smiled.

"Mr. Li, I think setting up MERS checkpoints at subways, stations, airports, and other public transportation would overly disrupt people’s lives; Seoul is already on edge due to the MERS incident, and controlling public transportation would empty the streets, stalling the economy. We can’t afford to lose the watermelon for a few sesame seeds, don’t you agree?"

"MERS isn’t as simple as a few sesame seeds."

Before Li Xianzhen could respond, Gu Ji spoke first, "The principles for dealing with individual medical treatment and social public health events are vastly different. Public health events must not be remedied after a large-scale outbreak occurs, but should focus on prevention and control beforehand to minimize social losses."

"Moreover, Seoul’s healthcare system is gradually becoming unable to bear the diagnosis and medical quarantine of MERS patients and their close contacts. If the government continues to allow this, the spread will inevitably reach the entire country, and then it won’t just affect one or two local economies, but the national GDP will suffer."

These words were not meant to scare anyone.

According to statistics from the World Health Organization, the 2015 MERS event caused South Korea’s GDP to drop by 0.2-0.3% below expectations, exposing the deficiencies in South Korea’s response to the epidemic, remaining a major "nightmare" affecting South Korea to this day.

Li Xianzhen closely examined the data.

As someone who came from a background of preparing documents and information for the President, he also noticed something unusual. Although the number of patients didn’t increase significantly in recent days, the growth in close contacts could be described as "terrifying": the number of medical isolation subjects increased from over 600 on June 1st to over 1300 by June 3rd.

If this pace continues, in a few days, the number of close contacts will exceed ten thousand.

By then, Seoul’s healthcare system will surely collapse.

"Do you have any other thoughts? Let’s hear them."