The COVID-19 Pandemic is History Repeating Itself
The COVID-19 pandemic has altered the lives of people everywhere just as the 1918 influenza pandemic did. There are both similarities and differences in how these pandemics have affected race, gender, and social class in the United States. Influenza, at the time, was a new disease according to Nancy Tomes’ article “Destroyer and Teacher”: Managing the Masses During the 1918–1919 Influenza Pandemic “First, the proliferation of fictional and journalistic portrayals of killer epidemics has created a popular apprehension of pandemics in general and influenza in particular that did not exist in 1918.” (Tomes 61) Society’s ignorance resulted in the death of around 50 million worldwide, by modern calculations, and 675,000 deaths in the United States. Influenza is theorized to have started in the U.S. in Haskell, Kansas from either pigs or birds. It is believed that the virus festered in military camps as a result of cramped countering. Camp Funston, a military base in Fort Riley, Kansas is one of the first recorded locations for rapid infection of the then unidentified influenza.
In 1918 men were infected with influenza more than women. Men often infected other men with the influenza virus as a result of interacting in close proximity with each other. Therefore personal hygiene advertising was marketed toward men ``In this still somewhat prudish era, there may have been unspoken conventions about what bodily functions could be represented in pictorial form; showing women sneezing might have been considered “indelicate.” (Tomes 58) Health awareness posters illustrated men. Tomes’ article cited a health talk titled “Story of a ‘Common Cold.’' The main character was a boy named Willie who infected another boy as a result of neglecting his hygiene. World War 1 health-related propaganda was targeted toward males who were associated with being unsanitary. The higher morbidity rate of men caused a decrease in the workforce causing a labor shortage. The decrease of men in labor jobs allowed women on the home front to take on work outside the home
COVID-19 is suspected to have begun in Wuhan, China. Much like the 1918 influenza, the virus was passed from animal to human. Although unsure, some scientists theorize that COVID-19 was spread from bats to other animals, prior to spreading to humans. One fascinating similarity between the Influenza pandemic and the current COVID-19 pandemic is its effect on racial perceptions. Hate crimes against Asians have increased. Journalist Emily Liu, an Asian woman, wrote an article titled “Covid-19 has inflamed racism against Asian-Americans. Here's how to fight back against the increase of racism towards Asians during the COVID-19 pandemic.” She quoted a text she sent to her cousin saying "Cover your face and don't forget your sunglasses!" (Liu) Some people of Asian descent are fearful enough to disguise their features. Liu also cited a recent case of a 2-year-old and a 6-year-old being stabbed at a Texas Sam's Club because “the alleged perpetrator thought, he told police, that the family was Chinese and spreading the disease.” (Liu) Racist people have seized the opportunity to enact their prejudice just as they did in the 1918 influenza pandemic.
The Influenza pandemic brought with its a new wave of prejudice against African Americans who were partially blamed for spreading influenza in 1918 because of the Great Migration which saw a significant number of African Americans migrating from the south to the north. Betsy Schroeder Schlabach a professor of history and African American studies at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana compared the current racial climate to the 20th century by saying “The way that the Tribune, especially, talks about disease is the same way they talk about the Great Migration: swarms of migrants coming to the city and bringing with them all sorts of disease,” Schroeder Schlabach said. “There’s similar ways that today we talk about the border or the way definitely [President Donald] Trump talks about immigration crisis and disease.” It is undeniable that race has some dictation regarding the response towards the individual’s treatment. In 1918 citizens of the United States were heavily encouraged to wear masks like the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Oftentimes women volunteers made gauze masks for those who needed them. “Public health authorities pushed personal hygiene measures such as masks and handkerchiefs in spite of questions about their effectiveness as disease-control measures” (Tomes 61).
In the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic the world has issued a social distancing protocol. However social distancing is not a new concept and was an employed strategy to help diminish the severity of the 1918 Influenza outbreak. Comparable to today schools were closed and public gatherings were banned. United States citizens were issued a stay-at-home order much like today. Also similar to 1918 United States citizens today are panicked by the information provided by the slew of both official and nonofficial sources. The 1918 Sedition Act which punished any printed slander or utterance against the government blocked journalists from reporting the facts resulting in Philadelphia’s health director downplaying the seriousness of the pandemic allowing the largest parade in the city Liberty Loan Parade to proceed despite doctor’s protest causing hundreds to die. A similar incident happened in 2020 during the February 25 Mardi Gras Parade and according to the NPR article “New Orleans Officials Point To Increasing Spread Of COVID-19 Cases,” following the parade New Orleans has 11.8 deaths per 100,000 residents making it among the highest in known cases in the United States.
Medical professionals are attempting to quail the raising death rate but United States hospitals have been left understaffed and undersupplied. According to the HealthLeaders Media article Expired Respirators. Expired Masks. Nurses at one Washington State hospital were told to use only one protection mask per shift. Hospitals have begun reusing safety equipment. Stanford News published an article about the website N95decon.org that explains how hospitals can decontaminate and reuse safety masks.
The shortage of supplies may not have been so severe if the government was more prepared. During the beginning of the pandemic, President Trump downplayed the seriousness of the situation. Though Trump did not call COVID-19 a “hoax” he did, however, downplay the severity of the outbreak since before February which is confirmed by Bethania Palma’s article Did President Trump Refer to the Coronavirus as a ‘Hoax’? At the time of Trump’s February 28 rally, 57 people had been infected and the first US citizen was confirmed dead. President Trump’s administration's inaction towards COVID-19 has resulted in a late response featuring a what some might debate as an underprepared $2 trillion relief plan because of this the current unemployment rate is steadily rising due to the effects of COVID-19 with a projection as high as 32% - 33%, those numbers being higher than the 25% unemployment rate during the 1930s Great Depression as cited from AS English article Coronavirus: US unemployment rate - 31 March 2020.
During the 1918 Influenza pandemic, people continued to work their essential jobs and find ways to entertain themselves while social distancing. Today’s society does the same. COVID-19 has not stopped the need for human interaction. Now communication is done via text or video chat. People are holding conversations as well as cheering for all essential workers from six feet away.
Biography
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