Question: How does the government and social response to the COVID-19 pandemic compare to the 1918 Influenza epidemic, and what makes COVID-19 different from other outbreaks of SARS and MERS?
Project description:
I will be doing my project in the form of a Washington Post ‘Made by History’ op-ed. I decided to do the op-ed because I feel I can mention everything I want to in 1000-1250 words and I’ve lowkey always wanted to do a historical article, for a midterm or a website. Using primary and secondary sources, I will compare and contrast the two pandemics by their severity, mortality rate, and how the government/citizens reacted. I will also go into depth as to why the COVID-19 pandemic is different than past SARS and MERS outbreaks, what the degrees of severity they had, the government response, and how citizens reacted to the outbreaks. I think it is important to draw on historical examples whenever it’s applicable. For example, with the influenza pandemic, people were told to wear masks outside, just like we are currently being suggested to do. I believe we should look at the history of pandemics to help strategize what needs to be done to slow the spread.
3 Primary Sources: (for now)
“Update 95 – SARS: Chronology of a Serial Killer.” World Health Organization. World Health Organization, July 24, 2015. https://www.who.int/csr/don/2003_07_04/en/.
- This article was written on February 11, 2003 (it had added information after discovering more about the disease) and I believe it is a primary source for the time. I believe it will help give me a timeline as to what government action was taken during the pandemic and what public restrictions were implemented.
Wilder-Smith, Annelies, Calvin J Chiew, and Vernon J Lee. “Can We Contain the COVID-19 Outbreak with the Same Measures as for SARS?” The Lancet Infectious Diseases. Elsevier, March 5, 2020. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1473309920301298.
- I am having trouble finding direct primary sources as to how the US implemented safety procedures during the 2003 SARS epidemic, so I hope this source comparing the two (COVID) can qualify as a type of primary source. This source is important because it shows the comparison of the two diseases, and is something I will use to answer my research question.
Robertson, John Dill, and Gottfried Koehler. “Preliminary report on the influenza epidemic in Chicago.” American Journal of Public Health 8, no. 11 (1918): 849-856.
- This primary source details the measures doctors and first responders went to try and contain the spread. It also has information as to the height of the disease and talks about the vaccines that were in the works at that time. It will be useful to compare the public safety measures put in place by the government and how people responded to those measures to how people are responding to the government safety restrictions and what they put into place.
I also plan on using anti-masker and anti-quarantine people’s opinions on the current epidemic to further compare the two!
3 Secondary Sources: (for now)
Hogan, Bill. 2020. “Invisible Enemies.” MHQ: Quarterly Journal of Military History 32 (4): 32–33. http://search.ebscohost.com.libproxy.temple.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=31h&AN=144353399&site=ehost-live&scope=site
- Invisible Enemies will help me understand the direness of the 1918 influenza, what restrictions were imposed on society and the economy, and the hysteria surrounding the disease. It also includes the rumors floating around about ‘German spies’ masquerading as doctors/nurses to give Americans the disease and a bunch of other interesting facts about the disease.
Wu, Larry. “A Timeline of COVID-19 Symptoms.” Point of Blue, July 9, 2020. https://blog.bcbsnc.com/2020/07/a-timeline-of-covid-19-symptoms/.
- I’m having trouble finding scholarly secondary sources on COVID because it is ongoing, but this article by Blue Cross NC lists the symptoms of COVID, which is something I need to include in my article when comparing it to the 1918 influenza, and other SARS/MERS illnesses. I will use this and another article detailing the lockdown and quarantine to describe what the disease is and how people are reacting to it.
“Department of Health.” Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), 2011. https://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/sars/fact_sheet.htm.
- This source will help me understand how SARS is transmitted and the similarities it has with COVID. I will continue to look for more sources, and I do believe I will need a lot, but this will be a good start! It details how SARS spread, where it came from, how many were infected, and what was done to combat the spread.