Lack of Social Distancing Leads to More Spanish Flu
During the American Spanish-Flu epidemic, authorities urged people to stay at home if they were sick, and to avoid huge crowds in general. Good advice ... but ... how could social distancing really happen during times of major events?
Philadelphia—extremely hard hit by Spanish Flu in October of 1918—lost more than 12,000 of its residents in just a few weeks.
Yet ... the following month ... they gathered in droves—as depicted in this scene—when an Armistice ending "The Great War" was announced on November 11, 1918.
It was at events like this where the Spanish-Flu "bug" could—and did—easily target many more potential victims.
Media Credits
Philadelphia gathering - Armistice Day 11 November 1918 - online, courtesy U.S. National Archives.