The number of deaths in the
1918 influenza pandemic far exceeds that of the current coronavirus
pandemic. But of course, history can
repeat itself, i.e., the coronavirus has the potential to surpass the influenza
pandemic.
The 1918 influenza virus
attacked in waves. Areas where the novel
coronavirus of 2019 has been initially controlled are now seeing another wave
of infections. Governments – our
government included – may institute intermittent quarantine periods to control
the recurrences.
When World War I ended,
people celebrated in throngs, forgetting about social distancing, multiplying
the influenza virus exponentially.
Social distancing was largely responsible for containing the pandemic.
Here in American-occupied
Philippines, the officials (white Americans) claimed Filipinos had their own
indigenous influenza which mixed with the pandemic-causing virus. One official even said that the Philippine
General Hospital was no longer fit for white patients. Give it to the imperialistic white monkeys to
blame the brown chimpanzees for the virulence of the virus. Oops.
Racist comment.
REFERENCES
Gealogo, Francis A. “The Philippines in the World of the
Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919.” Philippine
Studies 57.2 (2009): 261-92.
Roos, Dave. “Why the Second Wave of the 1918 Spanish Flu
Was So Deadly.” History Stories. History, 3 Mar. 2020. Web. <https://www.history.com/news/spanish-flu-second-wave-resurgence>.
Strochlic, Nina and Riley D.
Champine. “How Some Cities ‘Flattened
the Curve’ during the 1918 Flu Pandemic.”
History. National
Geographic, 27 Mar. 2020. Web. <https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/03/how-cities-flattened-curve-1918-spanish-flu-pandemic-coronavirus/>.
===
Originally posted on my
Facebook wall on 27 April 2020.
