I was working at the Colorado Mental Health institute in Pueblo about 20 years ago when some excavators, preparing to put in a foundation for a new building, discovered human skeletons. After some scientific tests it was determined that they were from the time of the Flu Pandemic around 1920. I was curious about what that pandemic was about and proceeded to research it. Most of the facts are familiar to our current pandemic. It spread around the world over several years in several waves and it was finally stopped when practically everyone had contracted some version of that virus and had either died or survived.
When I was asked in March of 2019 what I was going to do about the current pandemic when it first began, I told my family there was nothing that could really be done about it for most people but to stay as healthy as possible and try to survive it. I knew that we should try to protect the sick and elderly as much as possible. I already knew that expecting cloth masks to stop viruses was like expecting chain link fences to stop mosquitoes.
After almost two years, I would say the lessons learned from the pandemic of 100 years ago are still valid. Although the vaccines, which have proven to be temporary, have provided some delay in the spread of the virus and mutations, it appears that the virus will eventually go through most of the population before the pandemic ends. There are still no valid studies showing any significant protections from wearing cloth masks. The treatments developed during this time have saved some lives and more could have been saved if we had been able to push the politics out of the way of the medicine.
Based on the experience of 100 years ago it would seem it will be another year before this pandemic will be put behind us.
During this pandemic we have identified serious issues that desperately need resolution:
The ability to fabricate and distribute lethal elements around the globe is far more advanced that our ability to protect ourselves from them.
Seemingly educated and rational populations can easily be manipulated into a state of panic and maintaining irrational fear in segments of the society is not difficult.
Too many Elected Officials and Bureaucrats are more interested in wielding, (often unconstitutional), power than employing scientifically proven methods to minimize overall damage to the society. By studying the many different approaches to fighting the Pandemic from around the globe, the disruption can be limited to the effects from the virus, not the damage inflicted by opportunists who would take advantage of the situation. The desire to put this chapter behind us is powerful, but the need to address these issues may be critical for future generations.
Michael Baldauf has done Investigative Reporting including political and environmental topics. He has been a Media Consultant with election campaigns of candidates from both parties. He is presently semi-retired and writes articles for various publications.