This being The Dead Zone, the discovery that a child has this virus does not come about via traditional medical observation, but by way of the show’s hero John Smith (Anthony Michael Hall, pictured at top). As in the Stephen King novel on which the series was based, Smith mysteriously emerges from a five-year coma with psychic abilities that allow him to “see” past and future events (owing to a severe head injury that activated a dormant or “dead” part of his brain, or so the story goes). That means he can “see” the virus spreading to everyone with whom the child comes in contact, especially her little schoolmates. Appropriately, he insists that the school be placed on a lockdown. Not surprisingly, absent any “real” evidence that a catastrophic event is about to happen, government officials do not comply.
And so, the race is on. The child, named Amy, grows sicker by the hour. Using his powers, Smith is able to contact-trace the people she and her family members have been near (before contact-tracing was a thing). The virus is indeed spreading, and time is running out. Every minute is precious.
“It took 34 days to isolate the coronavirus that caused SARS,” Smith notes. Yes, in the script one month (give or take) is considered far too long to wait for a vaccine or effective medical treatment when a coronavirus is spreading.
Spoiler alert: They do find a treatment that kills the virus; one already in use in China. It’s the anti-malarial drug chloroquine.