Tribune-Review A black granite tombstone sits atop a common grave, honoring the victims of the 1918 flu pandemic, at Springdale Cemetery near School and Willow streets in Springdale, seen on Oct. 4, 2018.
TribLIVE's Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news you want and information you need, right to your inbox. Closings of schools, taverns and movie theaters, along with warnings against large gatherings, aren’t new in Southwestern Pennsylvania. On Oct. 4, 1918, communities debated how to enforce statewide restrictions as the region was hit hard by a second wave of a global influenza pandemic that ultimately claimed about 2,000 lives in Westmoreland County, at least 4,500 in Pittsburgh and an estimated 650,000 across the nation.