Not sure where this will land since I can't keep up with the threads.
I remember back to another devastating virus that caused panic in the US and through out the world - the polio virus. We could not play outside when the sun was up, not even on the sidewalk. I don't know why I remembered the sidewalk!
This article written 20 years ago is one example of why history should be so important to us.
'Sixty years ago, polio was one of the most feared diseases in the U.S.
As the weather warmed up each year, panic over
polio intensified. Late summer was dubbed "polio season." Public swimming pools were shut down. Movie theaters urged patrons not to sit too close together to avoid spreading the disease. Insurance companies started selling polio insurance for newborns.
The fear was well grounded. By the 1950s, polio had become one of the most serious communicable diseases among children in the United States.
In 1952 alone, nearly 60,000 children were infected with the virus; thousands were paralyzed, and more than 3,000 died. Hospitals set up special units with iron lung machines to keep polio victims alive. Rich kids as well as poor were left paralyzed.
Then in 1955, the U.S. began widespread vaccinations. By 1979, the virus had been completely eliminated across the country.'
Wiping Out Polio: How The U.S. Snuffed Out A Killer
60 years in an iron lung: US polio survivor worries about new global threat - NBC News