Someone asked, “Why did they name a virus after Corona, a Mexican beer? Many think the C in COVID-19 or Coronavirus stands for China or Chinese. Probably because people believe the virus originated in Wuhan, China.
Neither of these assumptions is correct.
The CO in COVID-19 stands for corona, not to be confused with Corona beer. The letters VI are for virus and D for disease. Nineteen stands for the year 2019. The virus was previously called the 2019 novel coronavirus.
You’re probably like me. I had nothing to compare COVID-19, the current viral pandemic. I didn’t know zilch about previous pandemics. My 94-year-old mom said she never experienced a global disease or viral outbreak. She takes her flu shot every year. The flu or Influenza and COVID-19 are both devastating respiratory diseases called by a virus.
So, when I read up on the Spanish flu, I learned that COVID-19 can’t touch it in severity and horror. COVID-19, an undeniable calamity, is Casper the Friendly Ghost compared to the Spanish flu, The Amityville Horror on steroids.
The Spanish flu, an influenza pandemic during World War I, infected 500 million people globally. And 50 million people died. I know you are taken aback as I was when I first saw these numbers, 500 and 50 million. There were 675 thousand deaths in the US.
Unbelievably ravaging!
This 1918 influenza pandemic is better known as the Spanish flu, even though it didn’t start in Spain. Spain communicated or disseminated much of the information about the virus, but the US’ press was censored due to wartime restrictions. Therefore, the influenza was dubbed the Spanish flu.
The first case reported in the US in March of 1918 was a military person. But the first public health report was filed in July of 1918. This time lag in communicating and establishing preventive measures cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans. The federal public health system lacked the resources to respond. No vaccine, adverse sanitary conditions, and no planned concerted response led to the deadly results.
There were little government interventions and coordinated efforts to stop the spread of the disease. State governments fended for themselves, with the US government delegating all epidemic responses to them.
Some say the virus was treated as normal influenza or pneumonia because of the war. This was done to preserve wartime morale and production. As represented by the numbers, every country suffered greatly.
Approximately 1/3 of the world’s population contracted the disease.
Unimaginable! This is hard to phantom.
We can’t afford to repeat any of the 1918 Influenza mistakes relative to time and resources. We can’t minimize the COVID-19 pandemic or underestimate it. We’re still in its devastating claws. There is little or no doubt that quarantine, isolation, good personal hygiene, temporary closing of non-essential businesses, and sheltering in place is slowing the spread of the virus.
Although the final numbers are yet to be determined, it will take all of us: you, me, our state, the federal government, and every country to combat COVID-19.
Stay safe.