Madam President: The Sequel (ON HOLD)

Chapter 3: I Hope You're Ready

Jennifer's POV

"Thank you for meeting with us on such short notice Madam President."

"Thank you both for making the trip. We're all set up in here", I say leading the Director and Deputy Director of the CDC into the Situation Room. "Gentlemen, I've asked Vice President Donahue to join us today."

"Honor to meet you sir", they say shaking his hand.

"Also sitting in is our Health Secretary and Cheif Medical Advisor who I know you've been in contact with."

"Yes, hello. It's great to formally meet you all, my only wish is that it was under better circumstances."

"We've all been vaguely briefed on the nature of our conversation today, so please feel free to jump right in."

"Thank you. As we all know Wuhan, China is experiencing a virus outbreak. What we're here to tell you today is that it is much more prevalent than what has been discussed. This virus is spreading at an alarming rate. Cases are up 101% and that number only continues to grow."

"Are Wuhan officials any closer to determining what this virus is?", I interject.

"We had a meeting with The World Health Organization and Wuhan officials, there have been some developments. Wesley, do you mind sharing our report with the President?",He opens his briefcase handing me a lengthy document.

"If you turn to the second page of the report, you'll see that we now have a name for this pneumonia-like virus...COVID-19."

"COVID-19? What is this some new strain of flu?"

"This disease is far more dire Mr. Vice President, so much so that the World Health Organization is ready to label it a public health emergency."

Michael and I glance over at each other with a worryful look.

"From what researchers know, this a severe acute respiratory syndrome that attacks the body and lungs. The elderly community has mostly been affected, reporting mild flu-like symptoms such as cough, fever, body aches, and sore throat."

"Has it been identified how it's transmitted?", I question.

"At this time it is still unclear. Research is underway to study the genetic sequence and determine if this is an airborne disease or if it is transmitted from human to human contact."

"Is Wuhan willing to share the sequence? We should get ahead of this and start our own research domestically", my chief medical advisor interjects.

"Yes sir. The World Health Organization is currently in possession of the sequence and will include it in their technical guidance outline that will be distributed to every country. Now what I'm going to tell you next is all classified information, so please use your discretion...We are certain that this virus is present in other countries. A woman in Thailand is displaying all the symptoms, and a man in the UK has fallen ill after returning home from a trip abroad. This is extremely concerning considering that as of yesterday this virus has become deadly."

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Rachel's POV

"White supremacy is a virus plaguing our nation."

"There is no such thing as white supremacy. It was a fallacy created to blame white people for the shortcomings of others. The message is rooted in victimhood. If you want to talk about something plaguing our nation adversely, talk about the Black Lives Matter movement."