The History of Pandemic Lockdowns in the US

published

2020-07-15

Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic are still occurring, but this provides a picture of how COVID-19 currently compares to previous pandemics.

During the 1918 pandemic "Social distancing measures were introduced, for example closing schools, theatres, and places of worship, limiting public transportation, and banning mass gatherings. Wearing face masks became common in some places, such as Japan, though there were debates over their efficacy. There was also some resistance to their use, as exemplified by the Anti-Mask League of San Francisco." There were no lockdowns like the one's seen in 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu

US Population https://www.census.gov/population/estimates/nation/popclockest.txt https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=US https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/us-population/

US Deaths https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-pandemic-h1n1.html https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1957-1958-pandemic.html https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1968-pandemic.html https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/2009-h1n1-pandemic.html https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/index.htm

Mean Age https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2010/03/study-life-years-lost-h1n1-pandemic-had-sizable-impact https://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/ages_deaths.htm https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/global-covid-19-case-fatality-rates

Years Life Lost https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20352125/ https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.06.19.20136069v1.full.pdf