Epidemic prevention work, as the name implied, focused primarily on prevention. The specific measures were essentially no different from those of later generations: improving personal hygiene, organizing disinfection, banning the drinking of raw water, exterminating insects...
Beyond these routine prevention measures, another procedure had now been added—quarantine rooms. Anyone showing cold symptoms would be sent in for isolation, with every precaution taken to prevent the virus from spreading.
To support the nationwide epidemic prevention effort, Ferdinand also ordered a Level Two state of emergency across the country, second only to the state of emergency imposed during wartime.
Anyone wishing to travel between cities had to report to the local health authorities. Only after an examination confirmed that they were healthy could they pass freely. Stations, ports, schools, and other places with heavy foot traffic were now covered in screening checkpoints.
Sergei had been born in Bankya Town, seventeen kilometers west of Sofia. It was a small mountain town within the capital city of Sofia, nestled on the northern slope of Willow Forest Mountain at an elevation of 630 meters.
Living off the mountain as those near mountains did, Sergei had opened a tiny grocery store in Sofia and begun dealing in mountain goods, becoming a merchant.
Oh, he did not yet count as bourgeoisie—at most, he was self-employed. His wife, three sons, and two daughters served as the shop staff.
Thanks to Bulgaria's recent economic growth, his business had been doing fairly well. After deducting all expenses, he still had a modest surplus.
But once the epidemic arrived, his troubles became enormous. He could no longer enter and leave Sofia every day. For safety's sake, the government had restricted the flow of people into the city. Now, he only had one opportunity a week to come and go freely, and