Cure Mode

Not to be confused with Cure

Cure Mode is a game mode in which the player leads an international health organization attempting to save the world from a deadly disease outbreak in a realistic and powerful simulation inspired by real-world pandemic responses.^[1]

Mechanics

Investigation: Track the spread of disease and try to find patient zero.
Control: Raise awareness to help the world through the crisis. Determine the best way to slow the disease and preserve your Authority.
Quarantine: Lockdown countries or entire continents from borders to airports with heavy handed responses; without popular support, these will have significant consequences.
Research: Study the disease and work towards a vaccine. Decide how much time you have to test its safety and efficiency.
Economic Support: People won’t comply with poorly designed quarantine/lock down measures; use furlough schemes and other policies to drive community support and consensus.^[2]

Task Force

Main Article: Task Force

The Task Force is the equivalent of Genetic Code for Cure Mode, players can recruit one of the members from their Task Force before they start their game. These advisers can help the vaccine development to be faster, better control the lockdown, prevent the plague from spreading to other countries.

Traits

Quarantine

Continent Alerts
Trait	Description	Countries
North America Alert	Announce concerns over disease spread here. Focus on this continent and prepare to implement disruptive quarantine measures.	USA, Canada, Greenland, Mexico, Caribbean
South America Alert	Announce concerns over disease spread here. Focus on this continent and prepare to implement disruptive quarantine measures.	Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, C. America
Europe Alert	Announce concerns over disease spread here. Focus on this continent and prepare to implement disruptive quarantine measures.	UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Poland, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Baltic States, Central Europe, Balkan States, Ukraine, Russia, Turkey
Asia-Pacific Alert	Announce concerns over disease spread here. Focus on this continent and prepare to implement disruptive quarantine measures.	Japan, Korea, China, India, S. E Asia, Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Philippines, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand
Africa Alert	Announce concerns over disease spread here. Focus on this continent and prepare to implement disruptive quarantine measures.	Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Morocco, Sudan, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Angola, South Africa, Madagascar, West Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Middle East

Travel Restrictions
Trait	Description
Close Air Access	Shut airports down if a country reports infection. Non-Compliance will increase if the public thinks it is unnecessary. Can be disabled at any time
Close Sea Access	Shut down ports if a country reports infection. Non-Compliance will increase if the public thinks it is unnecessary. Can be disabled at any time
Close Land Borders	Shut down land borders if a country reports infection. Non-Compliance will increase if the public thinks it is unnecessary. Can be disabled at any time
Force Lockdown	Enforce mandatory isolation if a country reports infection. Non-Compliance will increase if the public thinks it is unnecessary. Can be disabled at any time

Specific Quarantine
Trait	Description
Targeted Quarantine	Force a target country to shut border connections and lock down for 1 month. Non-Compliance will increase if the public thinks it is unnecessary.
Soft Targeted Quarantine	Targeted Quarantine now only shuts border connections. Softer restrictions more acceptable to the public

Response

Infection Prevention
Trait	Description	Resources
Hand Washing	Promote good hygiene practices by making sure people regularly and effectively wash their hands. Reduce Infection	6
Public Awareness	Promote personal responsibility on the spread of the disease to encourage people to follow official advice. Reduce Infection	3
Disinfectant Supplies	Distribute bleach and other disinfectants to eradicate the disease from surfaces. Reduce Infection	5
Self-Isolation	Symptomatic people must not leave their homes or interact with others for at least 2 weeks. Reduce Infection	5
Social Distancing	People must stay 2+ meters away from others and avoid badly ventilated spaces. Reduce Infection but slightly increase Non-Compliance	9
Local Lockdowns	Lockdown any neighbourhood that registers a case of the disease by force. Significantly reduce Infection but slightly increase Non-Compliance	20
Mask Wearing	People must wear masks when social distancing isn't possible. Significantly reduce Infection	1
PPE Package 1	Distribute basic personal protective equipment including medical masks, face shields, goggles and hand sanitiser. Reduce Infection and slightly reduce Fatality rate	7
PPE Package 2	Distribute advanced equipment including respirators, gloves and long sleeved gowns. Reduce Infection and slightly reduce Fatality rate	13
Improve Supply Chains	Protect supplies of essential goods by stockpiling raw materials and maintaining transport links. Reduce Infection and increase Vaccine Manufacturing speed	17

Death Prevention
Trait	Description	Resources
Emergency Preparation	Improve Infection Prevention and Control practices at hospitals and care homes, brief staff, and stockpile PPE. Reduce Fatality rate and slightly reduce Infection.	8
Clinical Treatments	Use common treatments and essential medicines to treat core symptoms of the disease. Slightly reduce Fatality rate	3
Staff Expansion	Deploy medical students, bring staff back from retirement and retrain other professionals to increase medical capacity. Reduce Fatality rate	7
Critical Care Management	Rigorously identify and share novel intensive care best practices with medical professionals. Reduce Fatality rate	5
Ventilators	Provide patients suffering respiratory distress with machinery to help them breathe. Reduce Fatality rate	7
New Infrastructure	Build new critical care hospitals and external triage centres to increase medical capacity. Reduce Fatality rate. Reduce Authority loss caused by high numbers of infected	12
Treatment Efficiencies	Improve the treatment of infected patients with Pre-Triage assessment and Specialist Treatment units. Reduce Fatality rate	13
Advanced Antibiotics	Provide a range of experimental treatments that target symptoms and the underlying pathogen. Reduce Fatality rate and increase Vaccine Research speed.	11
Steroid Modification	Provide drugs like Dexamethasone to decrease severe inflammation and redirect the immune system to fight the disease. Significantly reduce Fatality rate	9
Triage Protocols	Apply strict criteria for hospital treatment to focus resources on patients with the highest chance of recovery. Significantly reduce Fatality rate but reduce Authority	6
Surge Protocols	Cancel all elective surgeries and reallocate outpatient departments. Video calls used for all consultations. Reduce Fatality rate and Infection	14
Interferon Treatment	Provide interferon-β proteins administered via inhalers, to trigger an immune response in the patient's lungs. Reduce Fatality rate and increase Vaccine Research Speed	11
IV Fluid Therapy	Use intravenous fluids and rehydration therapy to properly maintain homeostasis. Significantly reduce Fatality rate.	9
Convalescent Plasma	Use the anti-body rich plasma of patients who have recovered from the disease to help treat others. Reduce Fatality rate and increase Vaccine Research speed	5
Monoclonal Antibody Treatment	Clone cocktails of specific neutralising antibodies to significantly reduce symptoms in the patient. Reduce Fatality rate and Vaccine Research speed	16

Contact Tracing
Trait	Description	Resources
Contact Tracing 1	Set up Test and Trace department to identify symptomatic people and notify their contacts. Once established, significantly reduce infections in small outbreaks.	4
Contact Tracing 2	Use smartphones to allow self-reporting and partially automate contact tracing. Contact Tracing better at reducing infections.	5
Contact Tracing 3	Deploy local teams to track potentially exposed people and ensure they follow guidelines. Contact Tracing better at reducing infections.	8
Contact Tracing 4	Mass produce self-testing kits to allow people easily and quickly determine if they are infected. Contact Tracing better at reducing infections.	12
Testing Capacity 1	Ensure large quantities of testing reagents and other key materials available for laboratories. Contact Tracing effective in larger outbreaks	6
Testing Capacity 2	Train additional staff and improve logistics to ensure tests are processed rapidly. Contact Tracing effective in larger outbreaks	7
Testing Capacity 3	Acquire and provide state-of-the-art equipment to allow testing with very high sensitivity and specificity. Contact Tracing effective in larger outbreaks	9

Border Monitoring
Trait	Description	Resources
Border Monitoring	Begin disease surveillance at borders. Try to identify and rapidly trace infected travelers from high risk countries.	4
Airport Screening	Implement targeted travel restrictions and screen arrivals at airports for disease. Significantly reduce Air Transmission	8
Land Border Screening	Implement targeted travel restrictions and screen arrivals at land borders for disease. Significantly reduce Land Transmission	11
Port Screening	Implement targeted travel restrictions and screen arrivals at ports for disease. Significantly reduce Sea Transmission	10

Operation


Trait	Description
Investigate Outbreaks	Set up teams of investigators worldwide to search for local disease outbreaks, gather resources and coordinate our response
Government Partnerships	Coordinate with local government officials to more rapidly approve the setup of investigation teams that will detect local disease outbreaks
Outbreak Intelligence Unit	Authorise dedicated unit that will more rapidly set up monitoring stations that will detect local disease outbreaks
Field Research	Deploy scientific researchers. Field Operatives upgraded to research Vaccine when present. Particularly effective in disease origin country
Deploy Field Operatives	Form a mobile team of investigators that can be deployed to target countries to enhance disease surveillance and response. Slightly reduces infections when present
Infection Control	Deploy disease containment experts. Field Operatives upgraded to reduce Infections and improve border monitoring when present
Emergency Care	Deploy medical specialists. Field Operatives upgraded to reduce the Fatality rate when present

Vaccine Development
Trait	Description
Vaccine Research	Start to develop a vaccine. Identify potential antigen candidates, assess clinical impacts and conduct human testing. Required for Vaccine Manufacturing
Accelerated Research	Implement emergency hiring protocols, repurpose laboratories and switch to round the clock working. Increases Vaccine Research speed
Global Research Treaty	International agreement delivers transparent knowledge exchange and efficient distribution of resources. Significantly increases Vaccine Research speed

Vaccine Production
Trait	Description
Vaccine Manufacturing	Establish the infrastructure, personnel and equipment necessary to create mass quantities of vaccine. Can begin before Vaccine developed
Accelerated Manufacturing	Use emergency staffing measures and advanced production facilities to increase capacity, speed and efficiency. Increase Vaccine Manufacturing speed
Global Manufacturing Treaty	International agreement creates factory networks, ultra cold chains and rapid sharing of manufacturing resources. Significantly increases Vaccine Manufacturing speed

Economic Support
Trait	Description
Furlough Schemes	Protect jobs by paying salaries of staff disrupted by Quarantine actions and boosting unemployment benefits. Decreases Non-Compliance from Quarantine measures
Adapt Society	Adjust to the new normal by providing funds and resources to maintain education, wellness and human rights. Decreases Non-Compliance from Quarantine measures
Mortgage and Rent Relief	Freeze all mortgage/rent payments and ban evictions to prevent people from losing their homes. Decreases Non-Compliance from Quarantine measures
National Stimulus	Support economies with training programmes, tax cuts, business loans/bailouts and infrastructure spending. Decreases Non-Compliance from Quarantine measures
Targeted Economic Aid	Send significant financial aid package help a country struggling with Quarantine measures. Decrease Non-Compliance in target country
Debt Relief	Work with international creditors to secure debt moratoriums. Economic Aid now significantly decreases Non-Compliance

Authority
Trait	Description
Authority 1	Brief world leaders on the importance of rapidly identifying and responding to the pandemic. Slightly increase Authority
Authority 2	Broadcast global plea for international cooperation and coordination to successfully contain the pandemic. Significantly increase Authority
Authority 3	Emphasise the global threat facing humanity and urge everyone to do whatever it takes to contain the pandemic. Very significantly increase Authority
Censorship	Heavily restrict communications to prevent public criticism of disease control strategy. Authority frozen for 1 month. Increases Non-Compliance
Fake News	Create and disseminate misinformation to disguise strategic failures. Authority frozen for 1 month. Increases Non-Compliance

Unique Traits

Virus
Trait	Description
Public Warning	Emphasise that this is much more severe than the seasonal flu. It is a novel virus that needs to be taken seriously. Increase Authority
Public Alert	Re-emphasise how dangerous the novel virus is and beg people to take it seriously. Reduces Non-Compliance

Parasite
Trait	Description
Medical Aid 1	Provide aid packages to poor countries to support efforts to control the disease. Reduce bonus infection rate in poor regions
Medical Aid 2	Provide comprehensive aid packages to poor countries to support efforts to control the disease. Remove bonus infection rate in poor regions

Fungus
Trait	Description
Micron Ventilation Filters	Use micrometer filtration systems. Significantly reduce the frequency of fungal spores spreading infection
Antifungal 1, 2 & 3	Deploy high altitude anti-fungal aerosols around the world to reduce the fungal bloom. Reset fungal infection bonus
Advanced Antifungals	Provide a range of experimental treatments that target symptoms and the underlying pathogen. Reduce Fatality rate and increase Vaccine Research speed

Prion
Trait	Description
Rapid Analysis	Study existing prions for similarities with the pathogen. Significantly speed up initial disease analysis
Neural Enhancers	Use neurological enhancement drugs to reduce cognitive decline in Infected. Help infected countries continue to develop vaccine
Reassure Infected 1	Reassure infected people that the prion will be cured before they die from it. Reduce Authority loss from Panic
Reassure Infected 2	Emphasis the 'incredible' research discoveries being made by vaccine researchers. Reduce Authority loss from Panic
Extend Incubation 1	Administer lymphotoxin blocker injections for the infected. Extend the time before disease becomes terminal
Extend Incubation 2	Improve lymphotoxin blocker injections. Extend the time before the disease becomes terminal

Nano-Virus
Trait	Description
Develop Kill-Code	Start to develop nano-virus kill-code. Required to remotely shut down the machines
Kill-Code Supercomputing	Offload kill-code decryption to dedicated supercomputer networks. Significantly speeds up kill-code development
Special Codes	Identify backdoors in code to hijack nano-virus functions. Warning - firewall will lock after intrusion detected
Emotion Dampening	Remotely inject command code level 065117116104111114105116121. Significantly reduce Authority loss from infected and dead
Location Tracking	Remotely infect command code level 084114097099105110103. Significantly increase contact tracing effectiveness
Hack Climate Routines	Identify backdoors in code to modify climate adaptation behavior. Warning - firewall will lock after intrusion detected
Scramble Heat Resistance	Remotely inject command code level 069120111116104101114109105099. Significantly reduce infection in hot climates
Scramble Cold Resistance	Remotely inject command code level 069110100111116104101114109105099. Significantly reduce infection in cold climates
Hack Secondary Routines	Identify backdoors in code to modify core routines. Warning - firewall will lock after intrusion detected
Cycle Suspension	Remotely inject command code level 068101108097121 Halt all nano-virus activity globally for one month
Cryptomining	Remotely inject command code level 099121098101114109105110101 Utilise the nano-virus to siphon additional resources over time

Bio-Weapon
Trait	Description
Declare Armageddon	Warn the world that humanity faces an extinction level threat from the pandemic. Significant increase in Authority
Expectation Management	Explain that it is impossible to protect every single country. Limit the authority damage per country. Reduce Authority
Extreme Measures 1	Deploy 'private contractors'. Field Operatives will take extreme measures to stop the spread of infection. Reduce Authority and increase Non-Compliance
Extreme Measures 2	Deploy black ops soldiers. Field Operatives will take large scale extreme measures to stop the spread of infection. Reduce Authority and increase Non-Compliance

Government Actions

<Country> sets up disease investigation teams
<Country> universally distributes facemasks
<Country> creates military containment zones
<Country> stockpiles aprons at hospitals
Plastic bags used as DIY gloves in <Country>
<Country> decontaminates imported goods
<Country> conducts nationwide blood tests
<Country> recommends hand washing
<Country> starts public awareness campaign
<Country> provides hygiene guidelines
<Country> begins disinfecting urban areas
<Country> recommends mask wearing
<Country> makes mask wearing mandatory

<Country> distributes hand sanitiser
<Country> isolates infected patients
<Country> cancels public events
<Country> recommends working from home
<Country> issues pandemic alert
<Country> closes non-essential businesses
<Country> closes universities
<Country> uses 'proximity sirens' in parks
<Country> deploys water cannons filled with bleach
<Country> approves use of 'disinfection robots'
<Country> imprisoning symptomatic people

<Country> puts hospitals on high alert
<Country> builds Advanced Vaccine Research Center
<Country> creates shielding guidelines
<Country> reviews medical stockpiles
<Country> rations essential supplies
<Country> starts central corpse disposal
<Country> uses mass graves
<Country> burns corpses
<Country> puts curfews in place
<Country> recruits retired doctors

<Country> seeks to recruit more medical staff
<Country> accelerates medical student training
<Country> uses hotels as hospitals
<Country> prioritises care for millenials
<Country> forces vets to operate on humans
<Country> deploys hospital ships
<Country> sets up Airbridges to protect supply chains
<Country> stationing armed guards at hospitals

<Country> bans all flights
<Country> closes all ports
<Country> shuts land borders
<Country> enters lockdown
Airport screening in <Country>
Port screening in <Country>
Land border screening in <Country>

<Country> sets up contact tracing system

<Country> sets up advanced contact tracing system

<Country> sets up weak contact tracing system

<Country> expands testing capacity

<Country> uses drones to deliver tests

<Country> starts compulsory testing program

<Country> establishing furlough schemes

<Country> adapting society to new normal

<Country> stimulating economy

<Country> sees economic growth plummet

<Country> struggles as job centres overwhelmed

<Country> sees homelessness soar

<Country> reports GDP has fallen significantly

<Country> suffers nationwide panic buying

<Country> runs out of toilet paper

<Country> sees drastic fall in crime

<Country> suspends refugee convention

<Country> reports domestic violence rising significantly

Protests against face masks in <Country>

<Country> reports mental health support overwhelmed

<Country>'s hospitals overwhelmed

<Country>'s healthcare system collapsing

<Country> closes public transport
<Country> declares national emergency
<Country> closes all public buildings
<Country> declares martial law
<Country> establishes dirty wards
<Country> reports local infection clusters
<Country> reports infection growing exponentially
Leader of <Country> addresses nation
Government downplays disease in <Country>
<Country> declares homeopathy as key treatment

<Country> shuts down mobile networks
<Country> shuts down the internet
<Country> congratulates key workers
<Country> bails out banks
<Country> bans sale of alcohol
<Country> nationalises healthcare system
<Country> bans Plague Inc.
<Country> bans export of medical supplies
<Country> declares day of mourning
<Country> closes all hospitals
<Country> nationalises transport companies
<Country> moves government to secure bunkers
<Country>'s government has collapsed

Achievements

Combos

During the course of the game, there is the possibility that a certain combination of responses and operations will cause certain events or "combos" that may or may not help the player.


Combo Name	Requirements
Report thy neighbour	Mask Wearing & Public Awareness
Rules are for losers	Mask Wearing & Censorship
We're here to help	Infection Control & Deploy Field Operatives
Happy Frogs	Deploy Field Operatives & Censorship
Weapon X	Steroid Modification & Censorship
In it together	Global Research Treaty & Global Manufacturing Treaty
Humans weren't meant to fly	Close Air Access from all continents
Shut Down Everything	Lockdown all continents.

Events

Scroll down for more content

Videos

Music

Track Name	Audio
Flatten The Curve

Gallery

Different concepts of game icons^[3]

Strategy Guides

Trivia

This mode was created with the help of infectious disease experts, including CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations).^[4]

While scientific input was garnered from CEPI and other infectious disease experts, it is worth highlighting that Plague Inc: The Cure does not provide 100% accurate or realistic scenarios to the steps needed to be taken to end a pandemic threat, and the speed and scale at which they can be achieved. It is a game, not a scientific simulation.^[2]
The default disease name in cure mode is PAX-19, reusing PAX-12 (trailer/default disease name in standard mode) whilst referencing COVID-19.
In cure mode, all of the virus pathogen's traits are some of COVID-19's: coughing, sneezing, pneumonia, fever, systemic infection, asymptomatic and well understood.
Cure Mode currently does not feature any Special Plagues.

References

↑ Sneak Peek: The next big update for Plague Inc.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Plague Inc: The Cure is out now for iOS and Android!
↑ NdemicCreations (June 22, 2021). Changing the icon for Plague Inc: The Cure was a big deal! We explored lots of options. Which is your favourite?. (Twitter) Retrieved on July 6, 2021.
↑ Plague Inc: The Cure is out now! It was created with the help of infectious disease experts including CEPI Vaccines

[1] Sneak Peek: The next big update for Plague Inc.

[:0-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Plague Inc: The Cure is out now for iOS and Android!

[3] NdemicCreations (June 22, 2021). Changing the icon for Plague Inc: The Cure was a big deal! We explored lots of options. Which is your favourite?. (Twitter) Retrieved on July 6, 2021.

[4] Plague Inc: The Cure is out now! It was created with the help of infectious disease experts including CEPI Vaccines

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