How to Prevent an Outbreak’ docs on coronavirus

Word of Netflix’s Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak is spreading fast.

Interest in the six-part docuseries has been supercharged by a deadly outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China, that’s been dominating headlines since the middle of last week. The show takes a look at the medical professionals and scientists preparing for what many have called an “inevitable” flu pandemic. It’s a thorough and engaging series, as compelling as any other documentary on the streaming service.

Interest in Pandemic and projects like it has become less than coolheaded. 

But as information (and, more often, misinformation) about the coronavirus is shared online, interest in Pandemic and projects like it has become less than coolheaded. 

Plague Inc., a video game simulating the spread of virulent disease, is among in China. Steven Soderbergh’s sci-fi thriller Contagion, released nearly a decade ago, has shot to the . Pretending to have coronavirus has become a popular and “Corona beer virus” has seen a spike in Google searches. (The beverage brand has said they are not concerned about the association.) 

Some conspiracy theorists are even claiming Netflix concocted the virulent disease to promote Pandemic, which launched at the same time news of the coronavirus reached Western audiences. More insidious are the viewers mistakenly conflating the demonstrable facts of Pandemic with the unknowns of this specific disease. With fear in the air, it’s easy to misconstrue the series’ scientific forecasts as our present danger.

Mashable spoke with Dr. Sheri Fink and Dr. Ryan McGarry — two physicians who executive-produced Netflix’s Pandemic — about what the series can and can’t tell us about coronavirus, and why they think their show is more cause for hope than alarm.

The following interview has been edited, condensed, and re-organized for clarity. 

What can and can’t we learn about coronavirus from Pandemic? 

“Pandemic can tell us how new viruses emerge, how people around the world monitor for them, what frontline doctors face in trying to treat them, what it looks like to try to stop an outbreak, and the basic things that people can do to themselves stay healthy,” says Fink. “What it can’t tell us about is this specific novel coronavirus, because of course we were not filming when this coronavirus came out. So it can’t tell you what the situation is now where you live.”

“There are people who wake up every day and want to attack this.” 

“This is not exactly uncharted ground,” adds McGarry, emphasizing the cyclical nature of pandemic fear. (Numerous other virulent diseases have caused similar alarm in the past, namely H1N1, or “swine flu,” and SARS.) 

“I think there’s like five things that are called ‘Pandemic’ alone out there, and most of them are either scare pieces or really fact overload. What was missing in the space was: Who are these people who get up every day and want to take this stuff on when it’s been fully forgotten by the institutional memory? […] This story [of coronavirus], like all others, will fade and people will forget about it, but there are people who wake up every day and want to attack this. So we wanted to make a series about them.” 

How prepared are doctors to combat coronavirus in the U.S.? 

“The good news, at least at our medical center and others, is that we’re very prepared for this kind of an outbreak,” says McGarry, who currently practices emergency medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California at LA County. “Our staff regularly drills for this kind of thing, just as you see in [episode 1 of] the documentary.”

“The cool thing with the series is that it takes you inside,” remarks Fink. “Most people who aren’t in healthcare don’t know that increasingly, because of SARS, which was an earlier coronavirus outbreak in 2003, and because of some cases of Ebola in the U.S. many years ago, there has been an investment. But it’s also true that hospitals and intensive care wards have only so much capacity and could be overwhelmed in a widespread outbreak.” 

According to Fink and McGarry, outbreak drills are becoming far more common among U.S. hospitals with the resources to accommodate them — and physicians are already beginning to screen for signs of coronavirus despite the few cases evident in the U.S.

“This is where we’re all being adequately prepped, and have always been,” says McGarry. “I guarantee you that every ER in the country right now has a Post-it next to the triage station that says, ‘Criteria number one: Do you have a fever?’ And, in all caps, ‘Have you traveled to China or had exposure to anyone who’s traveled to China in the last 14 days?'” 

“It is possible that a new virus like this may ultimately not be contained,” says Fink. “In case that happens, scientists are already working to develop diagnostics, medicines, and a vaccine. That is similar to the work shown in Pandemic that’s focused on flu.”

What is it about virulent diseases that causes such widespread fear?

“This was talked about a lot when the largest Ebola outbreak in history happened in West Africa in 2014,” says Fink, who was there for three months at the time of the crisis, winning a Pulitzer Prize for her journalistic coverage on behalf of The New York Times. 

“It has something to do with our human nature, but to me, as somebody who is both a doctor and a journalist, I feel that information can be really helpful. It’s that classic thing of, we are afraid of what we don’t know, what we can’t see, and is invisible. Not everybody has a science background and has the luxury of understanding how viruses work and how we can protect ourselves, and I know that can be very scary. Then there’s that compounding effect of the rumors and the internet and social media spreading fears very quickly.”

What should people in the U.S. be doing to keep themselves healthy?

Fink and McGarry say the best thing you can do right now is get the vaccine to protect against seasonal influenza and wash your hands regularly. Fink noted that while there are reports of people purchasing surgical masks and N95 respirators, “experts are not currently recommending their general use in the U.S.”

McGarry particularly cautioned against “permanent” fabric masks, the kind you’ll often see sold in varying patterns available online.

“Wear a seatbelt, get a flu shot, don’t drink and drive. There are a lot of risks that we contend with on a daily basis.”

“In theory, any mask you wear needs to be replaced every time you’re exposed to something. There’s no such thing as ‘your own mask’ for the next three weeks. If you’re going to do it, I don’t recommend buying one with a skull and crossbones on it for $50 on Amazon. That doesn’t make any sense medically.” 

McGarry noted that the only spaces one might consider using a mask at this time (outside of a clinical setting) are “indoor areas that are tightly enclosed, namely airplanes and other capsules.”

“Viruses, at least airborne viruses, travel very poorly outdoors,” he noted. “So when you see streets in the city with people wearing masks, that’s a dramatic photo of course, but not really practical. “

“Certainly, there are many better things you can do to protect your health while something is not yet circulating broadly,” added Fink. “Wear a seatbelt, get a flu shot, don’t drink and drive. There are a lot of risks that we contend with on a daily basis.”

How should we mitigate anxiety related to coronavirus?

“Sometimes the things that we do in fear can be even more harmful than the actual virus,” cautions Fink, reiterating the dangers of misinformation. “So it’s really important for people not to get so scared that they start to do things that are irrational.” 

At present, there is no evidence of sustained transmission in the U.S., meaning the risk to individuals here is quite low. “But of course, that could change,” says Fink. “The key thing is for people to pay attention to the messages that are from really good sources.”

Fink recommends keeping a close watch on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, and routinely checking major news outlets for updates on coronavirus spread. “I would urge people not to believe in rumors and to really view anything that you see coming from a random person on social media with a skeptical eye.”

“I’ve got a shift later today, and we’re being encouraged to not cause panic by saying ‘coronavirus,'” says McGarry, adding that many doctors will instead use the shorthand “ILI,” a generic term for an influenza-like illness. “The [coronavirus] has the same foundational similarities as any respiratory virus does. This is not something that is new ground. This is the kind of thing that we’ve got fairly well-practiced policy for.” 

As of Jan.18, the CDC estimates there have been anywhere between 8,200 and 20,000 deaths in the U.S. for this flu season.

Does the World Health Organization’s new classification of coronavirus mean it’s now a bigger threat?

“On Thursday, the head of the World Health Organization announced that because a limited number of cases of the new coronavirus had appeared in many countries outside of China, it now constituted a Public Health Emergency of International Concern,” reports Fink. “That’s an official designation that comes with recommendations from an expert committee. They emphasized that countries needed to coordinate efforts, share knowledge about the virus, work on vaccines, and assist regions of the world that might need more resources…” 

Fink says the announcement is not cause for alarm. 

“It’s a step in a system set up after the SARS outbreak to help stop the international spread of new viruses and other pathogens. It confirms what the public already knows, which is that while the vast majority of illnesses from the new coronavirus have occurred in China, vigilance and resources are needed to prevent it from becoming a problem in other countries.”

What do you hope viewers take away from Pandemic, particularly in light of the timing of the coronavirus outbreak?

“We want to emphasize that the timing in this case was coincidental and the release date was planned long in advance,” notes Fink. (It’s worth noting, the series’ launch date was announced in mid-December.)  

Still, the timing reiterates the series’ central message.

“It emphasizes the point that I think many of the people in Pandemic emphasize, which is that these risks are with humanity all of the time. These are existential threats that always exist, and that’s why there are people around the world who are really passionate about trying to prevent and detect and stop these types of threats.”

“There are things we can do and there are things that are being done to address these threats.”

“The key takeaway for me is that novel viruses such as this coronavirus or other novel influenza ought to be right up there with our most basic emergency preparedness,” concurs McGarry. “Most of us, we’ve got smoke alarms, we worry about carbon monoxide in our homes, more and more of us are taking floods more seriously as the climate changes. But boy, [flu preparedness] should be right up there with them. And I think the most basic thing we can do is to get the influenza seasonal vaccine.”

“I just hope that [Pandemic is] really useful to people who might be afraid right now or might be interested [in the subject]. We also hope that there’s a hopeful message there, which is that there are things we can do and there are things that are being done to address these threats. “

In a statement sent to Mashable via e-mail, Pandemic showrunner Jeremiah Crowell agreed with his colleagues, stressing that the project was not created to instill fear in its viewers: “All of this is scary because most of us don’t know anything about it. The reason we made the series is because there is a small group of people out there who do know a great deal about it and are working hard everyday to save us from the worst of it.” 

Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak is now streaming on Netflix.