In the summer of 1918, during the first wave of the Spanish Flu pandemic, American troops were at war in Europe’s killing fields. That was when Philadelphia officials decided they would hold a massive parade for the ages to promote Liberty Loans – government bonds issued to pay for the war. The City Of Brotherly Love organized an extraordinary spectacle: marching bands, women’s auxiliaries, Boy Scouts, soldiers and floats showcasing the latest innovation in warfare – floating biplanes built in Philadelphia’s Navy Yard.
That Philadelphia’s medical community thought this a very bad idea didn’t matter. That the nation was awash with flu had to be put aside in order to support the war effort. The flu could wait.
When two miles of parade marchers took their first steps on the morning of 28 September, some 200,000 people jammed Broad Street, cheering wildly.
The Spanish Flu had been circulating in America for six months at the time of the parade, and the flu, like COVID-19, loved a crowd. The flu couldn’t, and wouldn’t, wait.
Within 72 hours of the parade, every bed in Philadelphia’s 31 hospitals was filled. In the week ending 5 October, nearly 2,600 people in Philadelphia had died from the flu or its complications. A week later, that number rose to more than 4,500, with 200,000 more sick. With many of the city’s health professionals pressed into military service, Philadelphia was unprepared for this deluge of death.
City leaders closed Philadelphia, locked it down. But it was too late. Morgues and undertakers could not keep pace. Grieving families had to bury their own dead. Casket prices skyrocketed. And a rumor started to spread – The Germans did it.
History continually repeats itself. Tomorrow night we have a potential case in point when 19,000 followers of the Cult of Donald Trump will gather in the BOK Center in Tulsa Oklahoma. That the city’s medical officials have unanimously declared this a very bad idea doesn’t seem to matter. That the nation is awash with COVID-19 has to be put aside in order to support the election effort. COVID-19 can wait.
Campaign officials say they’ll take peoples’ temperatures as they enter and pass out face masks and hand sanitizer. But they won’t insist any be used and they won’t enforce social distancing. Can you, in your most far out imagination, visualize the camera shot of Donald Trump at his podium with his amped-up ardent followers behind him, each six feet apart and all wearing masks?
Since 17 June, two days ago, Tulsa’s COVID-19 cases have risen 42%, going from 259 to 450. At one time, New York City had 450 cases.
As we have seen, this is not the first time in the midst of a pandemic people have been irresponsible and downright wacky.
Both President Trump and Vice President Pence have lately taken to declaring victory over the virus. You’d be hard pressed to find a single medical expert who agrees. We can only hope that somehow Trump’s medical experiment tomorrow night will not turn a very bad idea into a tragic one.
