TOLEDO, Ohio — It's been about six months since our lives all turned upside down and we had to learn about wearing a mask, social distancing and other ways to increase infection control. Those who lived through the 1918 flu pandemic also had to adapt to similar life changes.
“People didn't know what the cause was, they knew it was transmissible but that's about it. They didn't have any treatments other than palliative care and we're in much the same boat,” said Dr. Michael E. Brooks, a history professor at Bowling Green State University.
Brooks said another big similarity to the two pandemics is the closing of businesses and the reaction from business owners.
“You could take quotes from the 1918,19 pandemic from business owners and compare them with 2020 and you probably wouldn't be able to tell which time period they came from,” said Brooks.
While there are many similarities between the two pandemics, like those being resistant to change, a big difference revolves around how political leaders handled the pandemic.
“So there's a lot of posturing on both sides right now. It's unfortunate this didn't happen in an off election year because I think we would have gotten a little more of a unified response,” said Brooks.
Brooks noted, the 1918 pandemic came in three waves and claims right now it's looking like we are still in phase one of the COVID-19 pandemic.