If history is any indicator, attempts to reinstitute social distancing measures to flatten a potential second wave of the virus could face more opposition than the initial lockdowns. The widespread business closures and mask ordinances implemented during the 1918 influenza pandemic weren’t especially popular.
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Coronavirus: Sweden's Tegnell admits too many died
Sweden's controversial decision not to impose a strict lockdown in response to the Covid-19 pandemic led to too many deaths, the man behind the policy, Anders Tegnell, has acknowledged.
How Pandemics End?
When will the Covid-19 pandemic end? And how? According to historians, pandemics typically have two types of endings: the medical, which occurs when the incidence and death rates plummet, and the social, when the epidemic of fear about the disease wanes.
What Hamburg's Missteps In 1892 Cholera Outbreak Can Teach Us About COVID-19 Response
As the world comes to terms with how governments have responded to today's coronavirus pandemic, some are looking to history to guide them. Chief among those lessons is the need "to have proper precautions in place," and not to try and hush it up or try and deny its existence. Then it has fatal consequences for many, many people.
Metaphors Matter in a Time of Pandemic
Language matters. This author critiques the use of War metaphors in dealing with pandemics. Author reminds us that at war we require command and control, rather than the spontaneous volunteerism we have seen with self-isolation and self quarantine.
Lessons Learned From Taiwan’s Response to Coronavirus
What we learn here is that countries need to be prepared for pandemics and that a national healthcare system works better because all the data is one place and this offers the government more flexibility in dealing with pandemics.