I went down the rabbit hole today going through @UTHeritageArts archives to look at newspaper headlines from the 1918 flu pandemic. Historians say ~91,000 infected and 2,900+ died: https://www.fox13now.com/news/coronavirus/local-coronavirus-news/utahs-covid-19-experience-shares-similarities-to-1918-flu-pandemic @fox13 #utpol #Utah #COVID19
Newspapers were the dominant record at the time (this was pre-radio, TV and the internet may have been a fever dream).

Some really interesting headlines from the time as they didn't take it seriously, then did: https://www.fox13now.com/news/coronavirus/local-coronavirus-news/utahs-covid-19-experience-shares-similarities-to-1918-flu-pandemic @fox13 #utpol #Utah #COVID19
Newspapers were the dominant record at the time (this was pre-radio, TV and the internet may have been a fever dream).Some really interesting headlines from the time as they didn't take it seriously, then did: https://www.fox13now.com/news/coronavirus/local-coronavirus-news/utahs-covid-19-experience-shares-similarities-to-1918-flu-pandemic @fox13 #utpol #Utah #COVID19
Newspapers were the dominant record at the time (this was pre-radio, TV and the internet may have been a fever dream).Some really interesting headlines from the time as they didn't take it seriously, then did: https://www.fox13now.com/news/coronavirus/local-coronavirus-news/utahs-covid-19-experience-shares-similarities-to-1918-flu-pandemic @fox13 #utpol #Utah #COVID19
Newspapers were the dominant record at the time (this was pre-radio, TV and the internet may have been a fever dream).Some really interesting headlines from the time as they didn't take it seriously, then did: https://www.fox13now.com/news/coronavirus/local-coronavirus-news/utahs-covid-19-experience-shares-similarities-to-1918-flu-pandemic @fox13 #utpol #Utah #COVID19
. @UTHistory's Brad Westwood says state health officials initially shut everything down. Then re-opened things as business groups got more vocal about the economic impact.

Sound familiar? https://www.fox13now.com/news/coronavirus/local-coronavirus-news/utahs-covid-19-experience-shares-similarities-to-1918-flu-pandemic @fox13 #utpol #Utah #COVID19
. @UTHistory's Brad Westwood says state health officials initially shut everything down. Then re-opened things as business groups got more vocal about the economic impact. Sound familiar? https://www.fox13now.com/news/coronavirus/local-coronavirus-news/utahs-covid-19-experience-shares-similarities-to-1918-flu-pandemic @fox13 #utpol #Utah #COVID19
. @UTHistory's Brad Westwood says state health officials initially shut everything down. Then re-opened things as business groups got more vocal about the economic impact. Sound familiar? https://www.fox13now.com/news/coronavirus/local-coronavirus-news/utahs-covid-19-experience-shares-similarities-to-1918-flu-pandemic @fox13 #utpol #Utah #COVID19
Westwood says there was a big battle as the state opened up, but @SLCoGov wanted to keep things locked down.

Another sign of balance of public health and economics: https://www.fox13now.com/news/coronavirus/local-coronavirus-news/utahs-covid-19-experience-shares-similarities-to-1918-flu-pandemic @fox13 #utpol #Utah #COVID19
Guess what else they had in 1918? CONSPIRACY THEORIES!!! @UTHistory's Westwood tells me there were claims influenza was engineered in a foreign lab (sound familiar?)

Also, fake cures (people hoarded Vick's VapoRub): https://www.fox13now.com/news/coronavirus/local-coronavirus-news/utahs-covid-19-experience-shares-similarities-to-1918-flu-pandemic @fox13 #utpol #Utah #COVID19
Does lemon treat Spanish flu? This newspaper article claimed it did.

Spoiler alert: It did not.

https://www.fox13now.com/news/coronavirus/local-coronavirus-news/utahs-covid-19-experience-shares-similarities-to-1918-flu-pandemic @fox13 #utpol #Utah
There were battles over re-opening schools, there were battles over masks.

@UTHistory's Brad Westwood says LDS wards took to making their own face coverings and handing them out: https://www.fox13now.com/news/coronavirus/local-coronavirus-news/utahs-covid-19-experience-shares-similarities-to-1918-flu-pandemic @fox13 #utpol #Utah #COVID19
There were battles over re-opening schools, there were battles over masks. @UTHistory's Brad Westwood says LDS wards took to making their own face coverings and handing them out: https://www.fox13now.com/news/coronavirus/local-coronavirus-news/utahs-covid-19-experience-shares-similarities-to-1918-flu-pandemic @fox13 #utpol #Utah #COVID19
There were battles over re-opening schools, there were battles over masks. @UTHistory's Brad Westwood says LDS wards took to making their own face coverings and handing them out: https://www.fox13now.com/news/coronavirus/local-coronavirus-news/utahs-covid-19-experience-shares-similarities-to-1918-flu-pandemic @fox13 #utpol #Utah #COVID19
This one particularly caught my eye. This is the now-extinct Salt Lake Telegram "newsies" sporting masks as a PSA...

https://www.fox13now.com/news/coronavirus/local-coronavirus-news/utahs-covid-19-experience-shares-similarities-to-1918-flu-pandemic @fox13 #utpol #Utah #COVID19
To give an example of the pandemic reboot we're in? This is the @fox13 PSA for face coverings to battle #COVID19...

https://www.fox13now.com/news/coronavirus/local-coronavirus-news/utahs-covid-19-experience-shares-similarities-to-1918-flu-pandemic #utpol #Utah
Utah experienced a BIG surge in Spanish flu cases around Armistice Day. People weren't supposed to gather.

They did to celebrate the end of WWI.

https://www.fox13now.com/news/coronavirus/local-coronavirus-news/utahs-covid-19-experience-shares-similarities-to-1918-flu-pandemic @fox13 #utpol #Utah #COVID19
This is Dr. Theodore Beatty who was the Utah State Health Commissioner. He enforced a lot of the regulations in place in 1918 under Gov. Simon Bamberger. This was when @UtahDepOfHealth really started being a vital role: https://www.fox13now.com/news/coronavirus/local-coronavirus-news/utahs-covid-19-experience-shares-similarities-to-1918-flu-pandemic @fox13 #utpol #Utah
. @DrAngelaCDunn spoke to me today about the parallels of the 1918 pandemic and how it impacts #COVID19. She says some of the decisions at that time inform the policies they crafted now: https://www.fox13now.com/news/coronavirus/local-coronavirus-news/utahs-covid-19-experience-shares-similarities-to-1918-flu-pandemic @fox13 #utpol #Utah #COVID19
. @DrAngelaCDunn spoke to me today about the parallels of the 1918 pandemic and how it impacts #COVID19. She says some of the decisions at that time inform the policies they crafted now: https://www.fox13now.com/news/coronavirus/local-coronavirus-news/utahs-covid-19-experience-shares-similarities-to-1918-flu-pandemic @fox13 #utpol #Utah #COVID19
. @DrAngelaCDunn spoke to me today about the parallels of the 1918 pandemic and how it impacts #COVID19. She says some of the decisions at that time inform the policies they crafted now: https://www.fox13now.com/news/coronavirus/local-coronavirus-news/utahs-covid-19-experience-shares-similarities-to-1918-flu-pandemic @fox13 #utpol #Utah #COVID19
. @DrAngelaCDunn cited the Armistice Day surge in the 1918 flu pandemic as a reason why @UtahDepOfHealth asked for Fourth of July, Pioneer Day parades to be canceled.

She says the differences, obviously, are advances in medicine: https://www.fox13now.com/news/coronavirus/local-coronavirus-news/utahs-covid-19-experience-shares-similarities-to-1918-flu-pandemic @fox13 #utpol #COVID19
. @DrAngelaCDunn says hospital bed capacity was an issue in 1918 and it remains one in #COVID19. Also, re-opening policies have informed health guidelines: https://www.fox13now.com/news/coronavirus/local-coronavirus-news/utahs-covid-19-experience-shares-similarities-to-1918-flu-pandemic @fox13 #utpol #Utah
Can we talk about whatever the hell is "Spitless Days?" @SLCoMayor you aren't planning to implement an order on this, are you??? https://www.fox13now.com/news/coronavirus/local-coronavirus-news/utahs-covid-19-experience-shares-similarities-to-1918-flu-pandemic @fox13 #utpol #Utah #COVID19
According to @UTHistory's Westwood, police absolutely DID enforce mask mandates implemented at the time.

And it backfired. The public pushback was NOT kind to government: https://www.fox13now.com/news/coronavirus/local-coronavirus-news/utahs-covid-19-experience-shares-similarities-to-1918-flu-pandemic @fox13 #utpol #Utah #COVID19
LOOK! Social distancing was a thing back in 1918, too! https://www.fox13now.com/news/coronavirus/local-coronavirus-news/utahs-covid-19-experience-shares-similarities-to-1918-flu-pandemic @fox13 #utpol #Utah #COVID19
Anyway, it was a fascinating glimpse into Utah's history and how it handled the 1918 pandemic and its similarities to #COVID19, health-wise, economically and politically.

I've compiled A LOT of the old headlines into a gallery here: https://www.fox13now.com/news/coronavirus/local-coronavirus-news/utahs-covid-19-experience-shares-similarities-to-1918-flu-pandemic @fox13 #utpol #Utah
As I wrap up this BIG OL' THREAD, here's some #MusicToSocialDistanceTo.

History is worth studying. Wash your hands. Physical distance and wear a mask (where applicable). #utpol #Utah #COVID19 #MaskUpUtah https://open.spotify.com/track/3cQPQu1BRz0thXh0u7i2Q3?si=lVycJJqcQpO1qVCMCJXTLw
History Repeating - Propellerheads Feat. Miss Shirley Bassey

https://open.spotify.com/track/3cQPQu1BRz0thXh0u7i2Q3?si=lVycJJqcQpO1qVCMCJXTLw
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