I tracked all the plagues that happened over the last 1000 years. The most deadly plague was the bubonic plague also called the black death. It hit Europe in 1347 and claimed 200 million lives. For London it was especially grim, as the plague resurfaced about every 20 years from 1348-1665 – 40 outbreaks in 300 years killing about 20 % of the population each time. By the early 1500s England imposed the first laws to separate and isolate the sick in their homes and buried the dead in mass graves. The plague was caused by fleas infected from infected rats. In London at that time there were no sanitary workers. London stunk. People just dumped their waste and garbage out the windows on to the street. Great breeding ground for rats and dogs and cats. That year they massacred hundreds of thousands of cats and dogs believed to carry the disease. The last of the great plague was in 1665 killing 100,000 Londoners in just 7 months. All public entertainment was banned and victims were forcibly shut in the homes to prevent the spread of the disease. In 1666 the great fire inferno slashed through London. People thought God was punishing them for their sins. Possibly, but the vast fire killed the rats that carried the disease. 13,200 buildings were destroyed, over 400 acres of the city were burned and 100,00 people were left homeless.
In 1918 the “mother of all pandemics” began at a US Army camp in Kansas. As the disease spread, life in America came to a standstill. Public gathering places – schools, churches, theaters, and saloons were shuttered. Masks of gauze were ordered to be warned – some people who wore them cut holes in them so they could smoke. Those who did not wear them were called “mask slackers” and could be fined or jailed. “ Obey the laws and wear the gauze.” Over 11,000 Philadelphia residents died in October 1918. Drivers in open carts kept a near constant vigil circling streets hollering “Bring your dead.” The corpses were then deposited in mass graves excavated by steam shovels.
Some of this information was gleaned from the web.
It’s no wonder today that the public officials who have to make the hard and unpopular decisions have a frustrating time with those who criticize that their rights of freedom of choice are violated by having to wear masks and to social distance and use sanitizers. Our government is just trying the keep the virus from spreading and killing more people and businesses. And now the virus has mutated. I know it’s a very hard time and I don’t minimize that. I applaud and admire those who are doing their best to make things brighter and better. We are the land of the free and home of the brave. Let’s demonstrate that.
In 1918 the “mother of all pandemics” began at a US Army camp in Kansas. As the disease spread, life in America came to a standstill. Public gathering places – schools, churches, theaters, and saloons were shuttered. Masks of gauze were ordered to be warned – some people who wore them cut holes in them so they could smoke. Those who did not wear them were called “mask slackers” and could be fined or jailed. “ Obey the laws and wear the gauze.” Over 11,000 Philadelphia residents died in October 1918. Drivers in open carts kept a near constant vigil circling streets hollering “Bring your dead.” The corpses were then deposited in mass graves excavated by steam shovels.
Some of this information was gleaned from the web.
It’s no wonder today that the public officials who have to make the hard and unpopular decisions have a frustrating time with those who criticize that their rights of freedom of choice are violated by having to wear masks and to social distance and use sanitizers. Our government is just trying the keep the virus from spreading and killing more people and businesses. And now the virus has mutated. I know it’s a very hard time and I don’t minimize that. I applaud and admire those who are doing their best to make things brighter and better. We are the land of the free and home of the brave. Let’s demonstrate that.