The novel Coronavirus outbreak has caused fear across the globe with many countries taking precautions to avoid the spread of the virus that originated in China to their countries.
Disease outbreaks are some of the most widely explored topics on TV and Cinema. Movies such as ‘Contagion’, ‘World War Z’ and ‘Pandemic’ are some of the top films to watch in regards to viral outbreaks.
With that said, here are TV series that have shown the possibility of a disease outbreak like Coronavirus.
Last ship
The Last Ship is an American action-drama television series, loosely based on the 1988 novel of the same name by William Brinkley. The series premiered on TNT on June 22, 2014, and concluded after five seasons on November 11, 2018.
After a global viral pandemic wipes out over 80% of the world’s population, the crew (consisting of 218 people) of a lone unaffected U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, the fictional USS Nathan James (DDG-151), led by Captain Tom Chandler played by Eric Dane must try to find a cure, stop the virus, and save humanity.
The five seasoned series covered a myriad of pandemics like the virus, crop disease ‘red rust’ and even a cyber attack.
The Strain
The Strain is an American horror drama television series that aired on FX from July 13, 2014, to September 17, 2017. It was created by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan, based on their novel trilogy of the same name.
The show centres around Dr. Ephraim Goodweather, the head of the CDC’s New York-based Canary Project, who is called upon to investigate an aeroplane landing wherein everyone aboard is dead. What his team discovers is a viral outbreak that has similarities to an ancient strain of vampirism.
The virus begins to spread and Goodweather works with his team and a group of the city’s residents to wage a war to save humanity.
Containment
Containment is an American limited series based on the Belgian television series Cordon it aired from April 19 through July 19, 2016.
When a mysterious epidemic breaks out in Atlanta, an urban quarantine is enforced, leaving those inside to fight for their lives as local and federal officials search for a cure. Police officer Lex Carnahan works to keep the peace, but the situation becomes personal when he learns his girlfriend Jana and his best friend Jake are both stuck in the cordoned area.
Also trapped with the infected are 17-year-old Teresa, who is very pregnant and separated from her boyfriend, elementary teacher Katie Frank, who is on lockdown with her entire class, and CDC researcher Dr. Victor Cannerts. Public trust deteriorates as a journalist, Leo, begins chasing down a conspiracy that unravels the official story.
The Rain
The Rain is a Danish post-apocalyptic web television series that premiered on Netflix on May 4, 2018. Its third and final season will air in 2020.
A rain-carried virus wipes out nearly everybody in Scandinavia. Six years after that event, two Danish siblings emerge from the safety of the bunker where they have been staying after their father, a scientist left them there.
After discovering all remnants of civilization gone, they join a group of fellow young survivors, and together they head out on a danger-filled quest throughout the abandoned land in Sweden and Denmark in search of signs of life and cure.
The survivors think they have been set free from societal rules of the past, but they quickly find that even in a post-apocalyptic world there is love, jealousy and other coming-of-age dilemmas that young people have always faced.
Between
Between is a Canadian science-fiction drama television series which debuted May 21, 2015, on Citytv till August 2016.
Between is the story of a small town called Pretty Lake and surrounding rural area under siege from a mysterious disease that has wiped out everybody aged 22 and older. The series also explores numerous themes: the power vacuum that results when the government quarantines a 10 square mile zone and leaves the inhabitants to fend for themselves; the desire of inhabitants to escape, ignoring that they will spread the deadly disease to the entire planet.
A pregnant teen, daughter of a pastor in the town of Pretty Lake, intends to give up her baby and leave her small-town life behind forever but due to the government-imposed quarantine means she must stay put at least for now.
As the living continue to struggle for survival, the pregnant teen and her best friend, whose college plans are also in jeopardy because of the quarantine, know that the only way for them to escape is to try to find the source of the virus.
Helix
Helix was an American science fiction horror drama television series that aired on Syfy from January 10, 2014, to April 10, 2015.
The series followed a team of scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who travelled to a research facility in the Arctic to investigate a potential outbreak of disease. While there, they find themselves stuck in a life-or-death situation that could decide the future of humankind.
Attempts at quarantine result in mutiny and attempted escape, and communication with the outside is mysteriously cut off. It is unclear at first whether the goal is to develop a bioweapon or to transform humans in some way. It is discovered that there are two variants of the virus: the first, Narvik-A, is fatal with no cure; those infected with the second virus, Narvik-B, become dangerous, violent, zombie-like vectors, spreading the infection to others, with a small percentage eventually regaining some normality if treated, as it seems several characters have already been infected and cured. Those cured seem to have the ability to control the infected.
According to the WHO, the common signs of the infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death.
Standard recommendations to prevent infection spread include regular hand washing, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs. Avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing.
