My dear mother was born at home in the Bay Area during the 1919 influenza pandemic. Hospitals were overwhelmed with the sick. Now, 100 years later and in my golden years, I have a Spanish flu history lesson for you.
The story starts in September 1918 with San Francisco confirming 169 flu cases. By mid-October that number had ballooned and the mayor ordered all schools, dance halls, and movie theaters shut down. In late October a mask-wearing ordinance was instituted.
The public mostly complied, at which point cases in Baghdad by the Bay were down. By January 1919, large numbers of citizens refused to wear masks. Enter the Anti-Mask League, which reportedly held a massive rally at Dreamland Rink in which anti-mask protesters questioned whether the pandemic was really as bad as people said. In February, they got their wish and the masking order was rescinded. The deadly second wave that rampaged through the city made San Francisco one of the hardest hit cities in the U.S. during the Spanish flu pandemic.
My family was safe in 1919 and I want your family safe in 2020. So don’t let the Republicans lift the gates on the lockdown too soon.
