The scientific side of the movie Contagion is deemed very accurate to the way the general medical

sector handled the onset of the coronavirus according to medical experts. In the movie, the MEV-1
virus is formed when bats flee from the forest they live in when a company called AIMM cuts down
the trees. An infected bat was roosted on top of a pig farm when the piece of banana it was eating
fell in the pen. A pig manages to consume the same piece that the bat was trying to eat and is later
killed to be served at the casino Beth Emhoff, the first infected person confirmed to have the MEV-1
virus, was staying in at the time to meet with her business partners. We also learn at the end of the
movie that Beth was the Global Marketing Operations Manager for the company called AIMM, the
same one that destroyed the infected bat’s natural habitat in the first place.

The chef handling the same but now deceased pig failed to follow the proper kitchen hygiene rules
when he avoids washing his hands before greeting Beth. According to Dr. Erin Mears in the film, “The
average person touches their face two or three thousand times a day, three to five times every
waking minute,” so it is inevitable for Beth to catch the virus.

While at the casino, Beth transmits the virus to the waiter in Hong Kong when he takes Beth’s empty
glass away, a businessman in Tokyo when she blows on the coin he was holding while they play a
casino game with other people, and the Ukrainian model in London when the model hands Beth’s
phone to her on the bar. They all die from the virus in the montage at the start of the film. She also
transmits the virus to John Neal, her former lover, when she cheats on her husband for him during
her 5-hour Chicago layover. He is later seen to be carried out from his house on a stretcher as his
symptoms get more evident on Day 5. When Beth arrives at her home in Minneapolis, she hugs her
son Clark who later dies after her husband Mitch rushes Beth to the hospital after suffering from a
seizure. Beth herself also dies in the emergency ward. After the series of similar deaths shown in the
montage, the CDC and WHO start to investigate the cases and find out who infected all of them, and
the patient zero turns out to be Beth.

Unlike the MEV-1 virus, researchers do not know the exact origins of COVID-19, but what they do
know is that it came from an animal, most likely a bat. 1 Bats are known to carry multiple viruses
without getting sick, as they’ve caused multiple human diseases in Africa, Malaysia, Bangladesh, and
Australia. According to Fox News, the WHO’s Office in China received reports of an unknown virus
being the cause of numerous people’s pneumonia in Wuhan, China on December 31, 2019. The virus
could’ve originated at a seafood market where various wild animals are traded, researchers infer. By
January 1, 2020, Chinese authorities had the market shut down, but it was too late as the virus had
spread beyond the market and people were infecting each other. 2 By January 13, 2020, WHO
reported the first case outside of China, a woman in Thailand who had arrived from Wuhan. 3 By
January 30, 2020, the Department of Health announced that a 38-year old Chinese woman from
Wuhan who travelled to the Philippines had tested positive for the coronavirus. She arrived in the
country on January 21, 2020, the DOH said. 4 On the same day, WHO declared a global health
1
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2020. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). [online]
Available at: <https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cdcresponse/about-COVID-19.html>
[Accessed 23 April 2021].
2
Betz, Bradford. 2020. "How Did The Coronavirus Outbreak Start?". Fox News.
https://www.foxnews.com/health/how-did-the-coronavirus-outbreak-start [Accessed 23 April 2021].
3
"Timeline: How The New Coronavirus Spread". 2020. Aljazeera.Com.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/31/timeline-how-the-new-coronavirus-spread [Accessed 23
April 2021].
4
Gregorio, Xave, and Triciah Terada. 2020. "Philippines Confirms First Case Of Novel
Coronavirus". CNN Philippines. https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/1/30/Philippines-
emergency as COVID reached several countries including the Philippines. The declaration of such
importance influenced other countries to increase their protection and prepare for the possible
spread of the novel virus in theirs. 5

On February 1, 2020, WHO announced the first death recorded outside of China, a 44-year-old
Chinese male from Wuhan who died in the Philippines. The man was accompanying the first
confirmed case of the coronavirus in the Philippines and was hospitalized on January 25 after
experiencing symptoms, which later developed into pneumonia. 6 The first confirmed case of a
Filipino citizen outside the Philippines was reported on February 5, 2020. It was a crew member of
the Diamond Princess Cruise ship quarantined off the coast of Yokohama, Japan. 7 DOH confirmed the
first case of local transmission in the country by March 7, 2020, and by March 9, ten new cases were
confirmed.8

As of April 12, 2021, the growth of COVID cases in the Philippines has slowed down and the positivity
rate has decreased to 19.5%. While the fatality rate is 1.73% in the country as a whole, the rate is
higher in NCR because the region is riddled with patients in critical condition. With healthcare
facilities overwhelmed, patient care is delayed and better healthcare access is limited. 9 As citizens of
this country, we must do our part in defeating the virus by staying inside as much as we can, keep a
distance of at least one meter away from people, and maintaining good personal hygiene.

coronavirus-case.html [Accessed 23 April 2021].

5
Baclig, Cristina. 2021. "TIMELINE: One Year Of Covid-19 In The Philippines". INQUIRER.Net.
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1406004/timeline-one-year-of-covid-19-in-the-philippines [Accessed 23
April 2021].
6
Endrada, Edna, Edmundo Lopez, Jose Benito Villarama, Eumelia Salva Villarama, Bren Dagoc,
Chris Smith, and Ana Ria Sayo et al. 2020. "First COVID-19 Infections In The Philippines: A Case
Report". https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32308532/ [Accessed 23 April 2021].
7
Kwok, Caroline. 2020. "Coronavirus Infects 59 Filipinos On Ship In Japan". South China Morning
Post. https://www.scmp.com/video/asia/3052209/coronavirus-infects-59-filipinos-board-diamond-
princess-cruise-ship-japan [Accessed 23 April 2021].
8
Baclig, Cristina. 2021. "TIMELINE: One Year Of Covid-19 In The Philippines". INQUIRER.Net.
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1406004/timeline-one-year-of-covid-19-in-the-philippines [Accessed 23
April 2021].
9
Co, Benjamin. 2021. "Growth Of Covid Cases Shows A Slowing Down In PH, Positivity Rate
Declining". ABS-CBN News. https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/04/12/21/growth-of-
covid-cases-shows-a-slowing-down-in-ph-positivity-rate-declining.