COVID-19 and the Spanish Flu: A Comparative History
By Hettie V. Williams
Diseases have a history. Everything has a history. There are some historical parallels between the Spanish Flu of 1918 and the 2020 coronavirus (COVID-19). Though a word of caution is necessary here: these two pandemics are not the same thing; and, the public should be mindful of this fact. That said, my interest here is in illustrating the importance of history as a tool for understanding society, culture, and the politics of disaster. History might be used to inform the present if we consider the comparative story of the Spanish Flu of 1918 and COVID-19. This does not mean that one event is an exact repeat of the other; but, rather that, history is the best mechanism we have for understanding human actions and it is also a proficient guide for shaping public policy. There are several points of connection between the event of the Spanish Flu of 1918 and COVID-19 in terms of origins, fear of contagion as expressed through a prism of ethnic bias, and the political, social, and cultural dimensions of each event.
Origins
These two diseases are both viruses with origins in specific regions of the world understood to be illnesses commonly associated with influenza like illnesses. Both have been classified as pandemics. The flu is considered to be a highly contagious respiratory…