Patience, my brothers.’
The new government had learned lessons from the handling of the swine flu outbreak, where experts had made predictions that proved to be well wide of the mark. Those experts had found themselves in the firing line, and had clearly felt obliged to protect their professional backsides by citing the worst possible scenario with regard to case numbers and likely deaths. Once such figures had been uttered publicly, politicians had had no option but to proceed on them and act accordingly.
This time, the government set up a committee of four people to keep the public informed about the course of the epidemic and the measures being taken to counteract it. No one man would take the flak. The chief medical adviser, Dr Oliver Clunes, was joined by Norman Travis from the health department, Lydia Thomas, a junior minister from the Home Office, and Deputy Chief Constable Stella Mornington from Manchester city police. Each evening at seven p.m. the committee would appear on all terrestrial TV channels to give out information and answer questions sent in by viewers.
It had been agreed from the outset that, although health was a devolved matter in Scotland and therefore within the remit of the Scottish government, the current situation was considered more of a defence issue and therefore not devolved. The handling of the crisis would be overseen by the Westminster government.
The committee’s first broadcast gave details of the planned vaccination programme, due to be operational by the Monday of the following week. The chief medical adviser gave a short summary of what cholera was and how it affected people — delivered in a dispassionate, academic way — before handing over to Norman Travis, who seemed more at ease in front of camera. He gave details of the counter-measures in a much more user-friendly way. The most vulnerable in society would be given protection first. All children under two years of age should be taken by their mothers to their GPs where they would be vaccinated with stocks diverted from travel clinics and military supplies all over the UK. All people over sixty years of age and everyone whose immune system had been compromised through the taking of suppressive drugs should attend one of the new mass-vaccination centres — a series of temporary clinics being set up in city halls all over the UK. They would be given vaccine diverted from the Third World aid programme until new stocks came on line, at which time the rest of the population would be invited to attend the mass clinics. Details of the location of these clinics would be given on local radio and TV stations and in local newspapers.
It was stressed that only people believing themselves to be healthy should attend the clinics. Anyone suspecting that they could be suffering from or had been exposed to cholera should seek help through one of the emergency lines which were now fully operational.
Stella Mornington, a pleasant-looking woman who exuded common sense rather than the air of authoritarian formality exhibited by many senior police officers when talking to the media — the reason she’d been chosen for the role — appealed for calm in the current emergency and urged people to go about their daily business as usual wherever possible. She stressed however that those not complying with emergency regulations in areas affected by cholera would be dealt with severely, as they would be putting their fellow citizens at risk.
Finally, Lydia Thomas, another pleasant-looking woman whose natural charm overcame any barrier her upper class credentials might otherwise have put up, gave details of the various helplines available and how they should be used.
TWENTY-SIX
Edinburgh, Tuesday 1 June 2010
‘I hate to tempt fate,’ said the chief executive of Edinburgh City Council, ‘but I think we should give ourselves a little pat on the back.’
The other members of the major incident team did not disagree.
‘I think we’ve been very lucky so far,’ said Alice Spiers. ‘We’ve managed to contain the outbreak, with only sixteen cases occurring outside the immediate vicinity of the flats. No more deaths in the past three days, and vaccination already started for the very young.’
‘The mass clinics will open on schedule next Monday,’ said the chief exec. ‘Eight halls are to be used across the city, all staffed by volunteer medical and nursing staff with the assistance of medical students. The vaccine itself should be here some time on Sunday.’
‘Civil unrest has been minimal,’ said the chief constable, joining in the self-congratulations. ‘Restriction on movements has been kept to a minimum, and I think the decision not to close all public places was the right one.’
‘Mind you, the NHS 24 phone lines have been going like a fair,’ said Lynn James, ‘but that was only to be expected. People are naturally very worried, but we’ve been able to reassure them that the authorities are on top of things.’
‘It could be the lull before the storm,’ cautioned Alice Spiers. ‘I hate to go all Scottish on you and look on the black side, but if there should be another attack…’
‘Then all bets are off,’ conceded the chief constable. ‘Everything could change in an instant. We could be faced with blind panic all over the country.’
‘Our hospitals and medical services could be absolutely overwhelmed,’ said Alice Spiers. ‘We’re only getting by at the moment because we’ve managed to largely contain the outbreak to the flats where it originated and treat affected people in their own homes. I take it the police haven’t arrested anyone for the attacks?’
‘I’m afraid not,’ said the chief constable. ‘But if the perpetrators were home-grown as the intelligence services believe, they may well have returned to their communities where there’s a good chance they’ll be regarded with suspicion and even informed upon.’
‘On the other hand, they could still be out there, planning phase two,’ suggested the chief exec, whose early optimism had faded away.
‘There’s also the possibility that they may have contracted cholera and be dying in some lonely barn in the middle of nowhere,’ said Alice Spiers. ‘It takes skill and training to handle dangerous bacteria. It’s the easiest thing in the world to infect yourself if you don’t know exactly what you’re doing.’
‘A happy thought,’ said the chief constable.
The chief exec smiled wryly. ‘So we hope for the best and prepare for the worst, as someone once said.’
Forty-five miles away, Anwar Khan and Muhammad Patel were preparing to ensure that the chief exec’s preparations would be justified. They had driven up from Northumberland to Waheed Malik’s newly rented premises in Glasgow three nights before to receive instructions for their second mission. The success of their first attack had done much to dispel the nerves they had both suffered from last time, although in Khan’s case these had been replaced by a different feeling of unease when he heard details of the target. It prompted him to ask questions.
‘In Edinburgh it was just a case of gaining access to water tanks in some old buildings,’ he said. ‘Pumping stations will be different. They’ll have security.’
Malik shook his head. ‘No,’ he said. ‘We have been monitoring the station for some time. There’s no security. The water board doesn’t do security.’
‘But surely after what we did last time…’
‘They’ve secured blocks of flats all over the country. That’s the way security works in the UK. They prevent the same thing from happening again. There has been no new security put on water board pumping stations. We’ve been watching.’
‘If you say so,’ said Khan, still sounding a bit doubtful.
‘Courage, brother. This time tomorrow you will have struck the blow which will damage morale so much that our victory will be guaranteed.’
Malik spread a plan of the pumping station on the table and went over the details again. ‘Once more I remind you, the critical thing is that you introduce the solution to the pipe after it exits the blue valve of the filtration and chlorination unit located here.’ Malik stabbed his finger on the map. ‘Remember its location in relation to the door you’ll enter by… here.’
