How will historians remember the coronavirus pandemic in San Francisco?
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Children line up for a parade in San Francisco in 1918, wearing masks and carrying a stretcher. The influenza of 1918-1919 killed more than 3,500 San Franciscans.Courtesy OpenSFHistory.org
For a few weeks, at least, San Franciscans spent the 1918-19 influenza looking out for each other. They closed businesses. They masked. They followed the rules. And then they quickly lost their minds.
In November 1918, San Francisco public health officials declared premature victory over the pandemic and residents tossed their masks in the gutter, only to watch the flu return the following year and kill nearly twice as many citizens. With more than 3,200 influenza victims, the so-called Spanish Flu of 1918-19 was responsible for more dead San Franciscans than the 1906 earthquake and fire.
1,400 orphans in S.F.: Devastating Spanish flu didn t spare the young
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Volunteers in Oakland sew masks to prevent the spread of the flu, during the deadly Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918 and 1919.Courtesy Oakland Public LibraryShow MoreShow Less
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San Francisco residents celebrate the end of World War I on Nov. 11, 1918, with banners and torches and surgical masks.The Chronicle 1918Show MoreShow Less
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The Oakland Civic Auditorium was used as a treatment center during the Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918 and 1919.Oakland Public Library 1918Show MoreShow Less
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A child with an influenza mask stands at Second and Harrison streets in this January 1919 Department of Public Works photo.OpenSFHistory.org 1919Show MoreShow Less