1918 Spanish Flu historical documentary Swine Flu Pandemic Deadly plague of 1918

[bucolic_frolic]

Everything went wrong in 1918. This documentary is deeply loaded with information from one continent to another, through World War I, on ships, with mutations, and back through New York and Philadelphia. Shortages. 3% of the world population killed. 675,000 in America.

[evertonfc]

1. My guess is by summer

lots of vacations will be cancelled

[Warpy]

2. My guess is that the pattern will be similar to the 1918 flu

There were three separate waves of it, the second wave was the deadliest. Spread was increased by war and the way troops were transported and housed. Once it spread into the general population, it didn't follow the usual pattern of killing the very young and very old, it killed people in their prime. While big cities hogged the headlines, the flu was deadliest in other populations. In some Alaskan villages, all adults were killed, leaving children to fend for themselves. Here in the southwest, native and Hispanic populations were devastated.

There was no national response and no legal way to institute one. State and local authorities were caught flatfooted and few had any idea what to do and others didn't want to lose moneymaking opportunities.

I didn't lose anyone in my own extended family--god didn't want 'em and Satan was afraid they'd take over, maybe--but nearly everybody lost friends and neighbors even if the family stayed intact. The death toll lowered the average life expectancy for the next decade.

Covid-19 doesn't look to be nearly as bad. It will do damage by knocking people flat for a week or two, educating business on the idiocy of cutting working class staff to the bone. Productivity will drop and transport will be delayed and we're likely to see odd shortages in stores from time to time.

We won't have a coherent national response because the Surgeon General is not heading the task force, Pope Pence and Mnuchin are, one thinking he can pray it away and the other thinking if he lies to the boss, everything will be just ducky.