Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow and Matt Damon’s 2011 film Contagion is re-appearing in movie rental charts in the UK and the US, in wake of the outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China.
According to reports, Steven Soderbergh’s terrifying thriller, which was inspired by the 2003 SARS epidemic and the 2009 flu pandemic bears striking similarities to the coronavirus outbreak that has the whole world scared.
Contagion which starres Jude Law and Laurence Fishburne along with Winslet, Paltrow and Damon follows the story of a woman (Paltrow) who unknowingly catches what she thinks is a common cold during a “business trip” (read: secret rendezvous with her lover) to Hong Kong. Upon her return to the United States, the woman spreads her germs, and everyone who has come in contact with her — including her young son — is killed by what scientists call Meningoencephalitis Virus One (MEV-1).
The film tracked the spread of a deadly virus from discovery through its global spread to, finally, a vaccine being created. However, in the process 26 million people died worldwide in only 26 days after the virus’s discovery, followed by instances of social disorder and widespread societal breakdown.
The coronavirus is said to have originated in a live animal market in China’s seventh biggest city Wuhan. In the film, it is discovered in the final scenes that the virus was initially spread from a bat, disturbed by jungle clearance, which drops infected food into a pigpen. Additionally, the fictional MEV-1 and the coronavirus share similar symptoms which include fever, cough, and shortness of breath.
Following the deadly outbreak, China, particularly the mainland areas have been sealed and most flights to and from the country have been suspended. The World Health Organisation has also declared it a global health emergency as scientists rush to discover a cure for it.
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