The new coronavirus pandemic which arose from Wuhan, China had caused 1,874 deaths as of 18th February 2020. While medical experts are investigating how to deal with this virus, the public is already in deep fear.

This pandemic has somewhat changed the life of the public, be it a matter of their emotion or regular habits. As you are shopping in the mall, you might have noticed that some of the shoppers are wearing protective masks. Besides, those who do not use hand sanitizer started to use hand sanitizer as well. Also, the emotion of the public was affected when they are informed of the rising death cases. 

Recently, Twitter users found out that there was a disease, called "Wuhan-400" in a novel called "The Eyes of the Darkness" (1981). It was written by an American author, Dean Koontz. He is a famous writer where most of his suspense thrillers have appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list. 

Although the book was launched as fiction, it is very similar to the new pandemic happening now.

One of the settings of the story is in a special laboratory of the Chinese administration during the war.  In this laboratory, a special study, called the Wuhan-400 is being carried out to develop an artificial virus for the use of war. One more interesting correlation is that the lab in question is located in Wuhan. The only big contrast is that the Wuhan-400 has a 100% kill-rate, while the Wuhan Coronavirus does not.

Disregard of the difference, Twitter users struggled to understand the doubtful similarities. The public started to turn their eyes into Koontz as he was said to be a prophet. Some people were suspicious about Koontz's prediction and pointed out that earlier editions of the book refer to the virus as Gorki-400, a production of the Soviet Union. The name of the virus was changed, probably due to the end of the Cold War in 1991. 

However, the truth was not as it was thought. Koontz was just a knowledgable and hardworking writer. A bookstore operator called Albert Wan explained that many important scientific studies can be identified when Wuhan’s history is researched. In other words, Koontz, who was claimed to be a prophet, knew Wuhan’s history well, and his aim was to write a fictional novel blended with the facts.

So, what do you think? Not matter what is the truth, the fact is we need to protect ourselves in this critical period.