The 1918 pandemic compared to COVID-19

Last updated on September 11, 2020

By Madison West

“In March, no one knew,” Dr. Carole Bucy said about having to leave campus suddenly. “We’re still not sure what’s going to happen,”. 

 Talking about the Corona Virus Pandemic is both informative and disheartening. As we discuss the events of today, Dr. Bucy also recalls events of the past, the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic. 

The Pandemic of 1918 was easily one of the deadliest. It was also incredibly short-lived. Spreading the H1N1 Virus was more difficult for a variety of reasons, said Bucy. 

Most people didn’t travel often, and most walked everywhere they went. A true quarantine was issued and instilled. Nobody traveled to restaurants or for entertainment, and this happened during prohibition. Churches were shut down for two weeks. There was a higher percentage of death in 1918 than today because they didn’t have access to medicine like today. 

Today, during the Corona Virus Pandemic, spread is a huge risk factor that we are having to deal with. We look at colleges like the University of Alabama, where after just two weeks of classes they saw outbreaks in over 500 students. 

 “Young people are in herds; you can’t keep them apart and the evidence is there. For rates of death to actually go down, we need to close everything,” said Bucy. 

Unfortunately, there is an economic factor to consider as well. Students everywhere, even here at Volunteer State, have been negatively impacted financially due to the Corona Virus Pandemic. Figuring out solutions for both the financial difficulties and ways to lessen the spread of the virus are difficult subjects and have come down to a lot of trade-offs.