The Premonition: Part 2 Discussion

[Kyli]

In Part 2 of The Premonition, we learned about the role the DeRisi Lab played in the 2003 SARS outbreak and the Virochip invention, a tool used to identify a virus using the genetic sequences from every known virus. We also learned about the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the lack of federal government attention given to prevention plans, conversations that were happening at the state and local levels, and the timeline of how Charity Dean drafted a COVID-19 response strategy that eventually made its way to the White House. Please feel free to respond to any of the discussion questions below or share general reactions to Part 2 of the book. We are looking forward to an engaging discussion with you all!

1. What were your overall thoughts about Part 2 of the book?

2. Had you previously heard about the Virochip tool? What were your thoughts about the invention and the way it was perceived by others?

3. Did you learn anything new about the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic? What shocked or surprised you most?

4. What did you think about the Mann Gulch fire metaphor and the way Carter compared it to epidemics?

5. Why do you think the US government lacked a sense of urgency about proactively responding to the virus when it was reported to be spreading rapidly in Wuhan?

6. What did you think about Charity Dean’s COVID-19 response strategy drafted at the end of this part?

[Kristy]

Part 2 had me internally gasping and thinking "no...nooo...NO" at the utter lack of preventative action occurring in early 2020. It was actually very validating to read because I felt like I was watching it play out in real time throughout those early months but was second guessing my observations because surely there was someone somewhere who was actually in charge. But it looks like no, everyone was stuck in a loop of inaction. The lack of sense of urgency was as infuriating to read about as it was to witness in real life.

[Kenni]

Kristy - I couldn’t agree more. There were times when I was reading that I literally felt sick to my stomach over the inaction taking place. I remember watching from the sidelines on 2020 wondering when SOMEONE was going to step up and attempt to take control of the growing situation. I also remember when there was a shift in the CDC’s stance from “meh, nothing to worry about” to “this is going to be bad but there’s not much we can do about it.” Reading that there were many individuals trying to get the government to step up and take action is both encouraging and disheartening at the same time. I’m glad we have a scientific community full of competent and strong individuals, but absolutely ludicrous that they were unable to goad our leaders into taking action.

[Kyli]

Kristy & Kenni -- couldn't agree more! I remember the switch from "little to no threat in the US" to "Well, this could never have been avoided" and I was so confused about what was going on behind the scenes, so I really enjoyed getting a glimpse into the lives of people who were working tirelessly to try and get our government to take action. I hope that we have more of these folks in powerful positions when the next crisis happens so we can hopefully avoid the magnitude of disease spread & death like we had with COVID-19.