When Redfield first spoke to Gao, the “unknown pneumonia” was presumed to be confined to China, not yet posing an imminent threat to the rest of the world. In fact, the virus was already present in California, Oregon, and Washington State, and within the next two weeks would be spreading in Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Iowa, Connecticut, Michigan, and Rhode Island—well before America’s first official case was detected. In another conversation that first week of the new year, Dr. Gao started to cry. “I think we’re too late,” he told Redfield. “We’re too late.”
