When people got tired of the flu epidemic a century ago, they gave up and paid for it.

Imagine the United States struggling to deal with a deadly pandemic.

State and local authorities will enact slate of measures to reduce social distance and collect bans, closure orders, and mask orders to stop the flow of incidents and deaths.

The public responds with a wide range of compliance that mixes more than complaining, pushbacks, and even complete rebellion tips. As the days change from week to month, stenosis becomes more difficult to tolerate.

Theater and dancehall owners complain About their financial loss.

Clergy lament the closure of the church On the other hand, offices, factories and even salons can be left open.

Authorities claim whether children are safer in the classroom Or at home.

Many citizens refuse to wear face masks in publicSome people complain that it’s unpleasant, others argue that the government has no rights. Violate their civil liberties..

You may hear everything in 2021, but these are the real explanations of the United States during the deadly 1918 flu epidemic. In my research as a medical historian, I have seen many times how our current pandemic reflects what our ancestors experienced a century ago.

As the COVID-19 pandemic enters its second year, many want to know when life will return to its pre-coronavirus state. Of course, history is not an exact template of what the future holds. However, the way Americans emerged from previous pandemics may suggest what life would look like after this pandemic.

I’m sick and tired and ready for the end of the pandemic

Like COVID-19, the 1918 influenza pandemic struck violently and rapidly, from a small number of cases reported in several cities within a few weeks to a national outbreak. Many communities have issued various closure orders several times in response to the decline and flow of the epidemic in order to control the disease.

These social distance commands worked To reduce cases and deaths. But, as it is today, they often turned out to be difficult to maintain. By late autumn, just weeks after the Social Distance Expansion Order came into force, the pandemic seemed to be nearing its end as the number of new infections declined.

People shouted to return to their normal lives. The company has pressured authorities to allow the reopening. Believing that the pandemic was over, state and local governments began withdrawing public health decree. The country has made efforts to deal with the devastation caused by the flu.

For friends, family and colleagues Hundreds of thousands of Americans who diedLife after the pandemic was full of sadness and sorrow. Many who are still ill and recovering from a seizure needed support and care as they recovered.

In the absence of federal or state safety nets, charities took action to provide resources to families who lost their earners. To accept the myriad of orphaned children By illness.

But for the vast majority of Americans, life after a pandemic seemed to be a head-on rush to normality. Many people who were hungry for weekly nights in town, sporting events, religious service, classroom interactions, and family gatherings wanted to return to their old lives.

With clues from officials proclaiming the end of the pandemic rather prematurely, Americans overwhelmingly rushed back to their pre-pandemic routine. They were packed in the cinema It was crowded with dance halls, shops and shops, and gathered with friends and family.

Authorities warned the country that the incident and death are likely to continue in the coming months. But the burden of public health is no longer a policy, Rather about personal responsibility..

As expected, the pandemic continued, spreading to the third deadly wave that lasted until the spring of 1919, and the fourth wave struck in the winter of 1920. Some officials have accused the careless resurrection of Americans. Others downplayed the new case Or, we turned our attention to more routine public health issues such as other illnesses, restaurant inspections, and hygiene.

Despite the ongoing pandemic, the flu quickly became old news. Once a regular feature on the front page, reportage has declined rapidly, becoming small sporadic cutouts buried behind newspapers across the country. The country continued, enduring the sacrifices and future deaths of the pandemic. People had little hope of returning to socially and economically destructive public health measures.

Regardless of the times, a part of daily life continues in the pandemic. Archive of Photos by Chicago History Museum / Getty Images

Difficult to hang there

Our predecessors may be allowed not to stay on the course for long periods of time.First, the country was enthusiastic To celebrate Recent End of World War I, Probably a bigger event in American life than a pandemic.

Second, illness death was a much larger part of life in the early 20th century, with daily tragedy such as diphtheria, measles, tuberculosis, typhoons, whooping cough, scarlet fever, and pneumonia. Killed tens of thousands of Americans each year.. Moreover, the causes and epidemiology of influenza were not well understood, and many experts were not convinced that measuring social distance had a measurable effect.

Finally, there was no effective flu vaccine to save the world from illness.In fact, the flu virus is not A safe and effective vaccine discovered for another 15 years Given the limited information they had and the tools they had at their disposal, Americans probably endured public health restrictions as reasonably as they could.

It’s understandable that a century later, and a year after the COVID-19 pandemic, people are now too eager to return to their old lives.The end of this pandemic will inevitably come, as it does Everyone that humanity has ever experienced..

However, if we can learn from the history of the 1918 influenza pandemic and the experience of COVID-19 so far, there is a risk of more cases and more deaths if we return to pre-pandemic life prematurely. there is.

And today’s Americans have great advantages over what they were a century ago. We have a better understanding of virology and epidemiology.We know that Avoid crowds And Masking work to save lives.. Most importantly, there are multiple safe and effective vaccines in place. The pace of vaccination is more and more weekly..

Sticking to or mitigating all these coronavirus fighting factors Rapid increase in new diseases And a quicker end to the pandemic. COVID-19 is much more infectious than influenza Some nasty SARS-CoV-2 variants are already widespread All over the world. The deadly third wave of influenza in 1919 shows what can happen when people loosen their vigilance prematurely.

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