Thank you very-very-very much for the kind words! I completely agree—the Republic could have helped those people and even turned the situation around, for example by engineering a new virus strain that would spread to recovered carriers and revert their genotype and phenotype to fully human. But that would’ve required enormous resources: rebuilding the lab, tracking down all the staff—including the lead scientist, who’s either hiding in Kangshar with other escapees or already outside the Republic.
By the way, I’m thinking of someday making something like a Dictator (1982) game about the President. If he juggle the front-line situation, the General’s demands, Tericheva's loyal police, the civilian economy, and invest in science and humanitarian efforts, he could cure the Kangsharans and either make peace with the Empire or adapt to a new society of humans and meta-humans and drive the Empire off Republic soil (with an uncertain future). Some spin-off with modular endings.
P.S. You’re a good person for trying to care for others in such a situation. If I were in that hotel owner’s shoes, I’d panic first, think about barricading myself inside, rush to the nearest store, and try to buy everything—food, boards, anything—not noticing some porcupine-person walking in with me. In my panic, I’d end up as one of the first-wave victims of the disease, hehe!
P.P.S. And then, after the fever and transformation, I’d probably start helping anyway, offering rooms at a discount or even for free, since many neighbors could’ve been left homeless due to the city chaos. But then Civil Defense would evict us all((