See history repeat itself with images of the Spanish flu and COVID-19 outbreaks
More than a century after the 1918 Spanish flu, its lessons are still saving lives. Mitigation methods such as face masks and social distancing may seem like foreign practices in the United States, but they would have felt familiar to those battling that earlier pandemic, which killed an estimated 675,000 Americans, already shell-shocked from World War I. Globally, the disease claimed some 50 million people.
This coronavirus may be novel, but eerily similar photographs from both pandemics reveal an undeniable sense of déjà flu.
ARRESTING THE VIRUS: (Above) Not all who wear masks are outlaws. Police officers in 1918 Seattle took the same precautions as New York cops in 2020.
photoquest / getty images; jack taylor / getty images
DIALED IN
The telephone was advertised as a way to combat isolation under quarantine in 1918, but roughly two-thirds of America didn’t have one at the time and many operators were out sick with influenza. Today, landlines, mobile phones, video conferencing and social media keep us connected.
photoquest / getty images; eduardo munoz / getty images
ON TRACK
Whether boarding a streetcar in Seattle or a Manhattan subway, a face mask was—and is—a requirement.
chicago sun times / getty images; / dustin chambers getty images
PRETTY HAIRY
In both 1918 Chicago and 2020 Atlanta, it’s impossible to get a close shave and maintain social distancing at the barbershop.
photoquest / getty images; robin utrecht / getty-images
KEYS TO SUCCESS
The technology may have improved, but office workers in 1918 would have understood the basic precautions taken by the WFH set today.
underwood archives / getty images; miguel llop nur getty / images
A CLEAN START
Public health officials in 1918 preached the wisdom of hand washing. Today, first responders (like this Barcelona fire brigade member) ensure that water supplies are disinfected.
george rinhart / getty images; inti ocon / getty images
DISTANT REPLAY
A century later, sports remain a vital part of maintaining normalcy amid a pandemic—but a catcher’s mask still won’t protect you from a foul virus.
bettmann / getty images; JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images
THE HANDS THAT FEED US
Food shortages and poverty have contributed to the devastation of both pandemics.
uiniversal history archive / getty images; liao pan / getty images
FOR EMERGENCIES ONLY
With hospitals overburdened in both pandemics, temporary facilities were constructed for patients in warehouses and convention centers.
bettman / getty images; carlos garcia granthon / getty images
CLEAN SWEEPS
Street cleaners in Lima, Peru, are better equipped today than their antecedents in 1918 New York City.
bettmann / getty images; artyom geodakyan tass / getty images
BREATHING LESSONS
Both pandemics required armies of workers to produce face masks. Or as the New York Board of Health warned in 1918, “Better to be ridiculous than dead.”
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