Thank you. Do you happen to know whether there was widespread use of masks in the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic? Was the quarantine across the entire country, or only in major cities? I cannot imagine the people back then had access to instant, widespread disinformation as we have today.
Do you happen to know whether there was widespread use of masks in the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic? Was the quarantine across the entire country, or only in major cities?
Yes, use of masks was widespread and they quarantined rural areas as well as urban.
https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2020/03/coronavirus-loneliness-and-mistrust-1918-flu-pandemic-quarantine/609163/
https://elemental.medium.com/why-gauze-masks-failed-in-1918-and-what-we-can-do-better-e735406f0e36
I cannot imagine the people back then had access to instant, widespread disinformation as we have today
True, fake news spread more slowly back then but the lack of an Internet also made it harder for people to endure the quarantine. No social media, no email, and not everyone could afford a telephone. If postal service was disrupted by the Spanish Flu (not sure if it was or not) many people would have been SOL as far as keeping in contact with friends and family members outside their immediate household. Of course they were also tougher back then.