A lot of people are under the impression that we have not treated a virus like this in this way before. That simply is not true. Here is an article about the 1918 flu and how they combatted it back then.


[link to weather.com (secure)]
All that people could do to try to avoid catching the disease was wash their hands, isolate themselves, avoid public settings, and quarantine the already-sick. Citizens were also ordered to wear masks to try to slow the spread of the disease, and many schools, theaters and businesses shut down. In New York City, an ordinance was passed to fine or jail people that failed to cover their coughs.

The first wave of the 1918 pandemic hit in the spring and was considered relatively mild, but later that fall, a second, much deadlier wave hit. Some victims died within hours or days of developing symptoms. Hospitals became so overloaded with patients that schools, private homes, and other buildings had to be converted into makeshift, emergency substitutes. There was also a doctor shortage back home due to the war, so medical students sometimes stepped in to try to treat patients. In some places, so many people got sick that there weren’t enough farmers to harvest crops or enough workers to collect garbage and deliver the mail.