In January of 2020, Dean was alarmed when she saw images circulating on social media that appeared to show Chinese authorities
welding apartment doors shut to keep residents indoors.
Dr. Charity Dean: And watching those videos on Twitter, 'cause I had no other source of information, I thought, 'They know something we don't and this is real.'
Dean's hunch was that international travel into California's major airports meant the virus was already circulating in her state. She guessed there might be 100 undetected cases of COVID-19. Dean did what she called "dirty math" on her whiteboard, plotting what the virus might do to California in the coming weeks.
John Dickerson: So you're doing the dirty math on the whiteboard and you step back and you think what?
Dr. Charity Dean: I thought, 'Oh my God. I don't believe this. It's 20 million in May.'
Her projection of 20 million cases meant half of California's population would be infected within four months unless officials intervened to slow the virus's path.
John Dickerson: What was the response when you told your bosses that?
Dr. Charity Dean: Disbelief. Shock. And then irritation.
John Dickerson: Why irritation?
Dr. Charity Dean: Because I think it's just really hard for the human brain to grasp the exponential growth of an existential threat.
John Dickerson: They didn't even let you use the word 'pandemic' when you wanted to, is that right?
Dr. Charity Dean: I was asked to not say the word 'pandemic' because it might scare people. But I was scared.
John Dickerson: And you thought people should be too?
Dr. Charity Dean: Absolutely.