2030 Pandemic

"*Fun fact, you can mouth the f-bomb all day long to someone's face and they won't even know it."
"I... I understood that reference."
"What reference?*"
―Daniel Murrell and Baby Strength[src]
The **2030 Pandemic**, designated as **coronavirus disease 2029** or **corona virus** or **COVID-29** for short, was an ongoing pandemic in late 2029 and early-to-mid 2020, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). After the Bombing of Turquoise Belvedere, it was reported that more than 585,000 cases of COVID-29 had been reported in over 200 countries and territories, resulting in approximately 26,800 deaths and more than 131,000 recoveries.

According to Sheriff Bladepoint, the virus was mainly spread during close contact and via respiratory droplets discharged when people coughed or sneezed. Lewis pointed out that people may also catch COVID-29 by touching a contaminated surface and then their face. It is most contagious when people are symptomatic, although spread may be possible before symptoms appear. The time between exposure and symptom onset is typically around five days, but may range from two days to two weeks. Common symptoms included fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Complications may include pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome.

## History

"*Well I told her just how grateful I was to be quarantined with someone who actually likes watching me at work; she just looked at him and was like, 'Well aren't you pleased as punch.'*"
―Reba[src]
The outbreak was first identified in China around the time the Attack on the Fourth Dominion occurred in December 2029, and was recognized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11. After the First mission to Yellowstone, it was reported that more than 585,000 cases of COVID-29 had been reported in over 200 countries and territories, resulting in approximately 26,800 deaths and more than 131,000 recoveries. However, in May the stay-at-home orders became more lax. Many governments have mandated or recommended self-quarantine for entire populations living in affected areas. Other couples did, however, remain together, resulting in Janice starting to get sick of hearing Roy work on his scientific studies all the time. Some young celebrities such as Dora Reich mostly operated from home due to the ongoing pandemic, something foreshadowed in a vision had by Sebiscuits Cardarphen.

 File:Summer with hand sanitizer.png
Steven Thompson initially planned to move in near where his girlfriend, Summer Petersen, was currently living by herself. Thanks to the quarantine and the travel restrictions that accompanied the pandemic, however, Steven was forced to stay with his parents, while Summer was forced to remain by herself in her own home, resulting in their not seeing each other for months. At some point, Summer, who had been gaining even more weight than before, invited her old posse members from 2025 for a get-together, having them line up by the door and placing hand sanitizer on their hands in succession.

## S.M.S.B.'s response to the pandemic

"*More and more people are being infected by the day. Yesterday, I had to take in someone who lived near the Acquisition District that had been selling amulets online, he was all like, 'With this amulet, you can go anywhere'."
"Well, that's good, right?"
"Well, they really just caused wearers' fingernails to engorge. As if NYC Hospital wasn't busy enough already!*"
―Baby Intelligence and Lindsay Kellerman[src]
Baby Intelligence and Force Baby both proved to be essential to spending a lot of time in public dealing with the coronavirus pandemic in ways no one else could. This was because Baby Intelligence, being an enhanced warrior, and Force Baby, being a Kraton, were immune to most sicknesses, and therefore had nothing to fear leaving their homes. One of their most important duties was shutting down unscrupulous people who sought to take advantage of the international isolation, or prey on the widespread terror for personal gain. This included confiscating scam talismans from a man trying to sell them online that had gone so far as to create a website about them. Lindsay Kellerman and Dante Christensen, on the other hand, being just as vulnerable as anyone else, often stayed in the MBH alone, giving Christensen the responsibility of watching over Kellerman, leading to the two bonding.

Aside from his duties outside of the house, Baby Intelligence would on occasion stay up at night putting together his scientific genius and vast resources to develop a vaccine or antiviral treatment, as none was known to the world. Ultimately, he never succeeded to this end. However, primary treatment was symptomatic and supportive therapy. Being fully aware of this, Baby Intelligence had a list of measures he expected of his pupils to take on a regular basis to prevent constricting or spreading it. This included hand washing, covering one's mouth when coughing, and maintaining distance from other people.

When Dante Christensen was strongly suspected of being infected, Baby Intelligence took to monitoring him more closely and enforcing absolute isolation for him. Worried that Kellerman could not be left at home alone, he was able to convince Bruce Wright to come over and babysit her. Wright brought a sleeping bag and several comfort items from home for his stay at the mansion. Eventually, the taxing job of monitoring Kellerman for hours at a time prompted Wright to seek assistance. This resulted in Bailey Dennings and Kamille Trinity to also live temporarily at the MBH, with Trinity only coming as Dennings' condition for coming over. Trinity tried to invite her boyfriend Dakota over so they could spend more time together, but Baby Intelligence had to put his foot down.

Days later, he realized he had falsely assumed babies and toddlers were particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus pandemic, presuming their immune systems to be underdeveloped and therefore weak. As a result, he profoundly apologized to Christensen, to the extent of almost becoming hysterical, though he had to yell at him before he could embrace Lindsay Kellerman.

## NoHeads' response to the pandemic

"*So in essence, almost every human on the face of this planet decided to translate themselves into a germaphobe army overnight, and we must all suffer for their indirect and effortless so-called unity.*"
―Hell Burnbottom[src]
Annabeth Black had Deaformas patrol Yellowstone and several states surrounding it, to force people to stay homebound, although she might have been joking.

## Impact on Earth

"*The virus, it slew thousands.*"
―Titanium Girl[src]
The pandemic has led to severe global socioeconomic disruption, the postponement or cancellation of sporting, religious, and cultural events, and widespread fears of supply shortages which had spurred panic buying. Efforts to prevent the virus spreading included travel restrictions, quarantines, curfews, workplace hazard controls, facility closures and, as stated before, the postponements and cancellations of events. Numerous schools and universities in more than one hundred twenty countries, including Superhero School and Superhero University, closed either on a nationwide or local basis, affecting more than a billion students. Misinformation and conspiracy theories about the virus have spread online.

The virus was well-remembered going into the 2040s, as a terror that had killed millions and a stark reminder of how insufficient Earth was to deal with relatively unconventional threats.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `ROHB`
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `S2`
3. ↑ *The Woman Who Talked to the Hand*
4. ↑ *Sebiscuits: Renascence*
5. ↑ *Vault of Ages: Cosmic War*
6. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `TBS`
7. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `SMSB1`