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Why Covid-19 is nothing like the deadly Spanish Flu
© Provided by The Times of India
Now that Covid-19 is officially a pandemic, people have rediscovered the Spanish Flu of 1918 that killed between 50 million and 100 million people across the world. Comparisons are being made because pandemics spook people. But should one be looking back at the 1918 flu that also killed the grandfather of US president Donald Trump?
First, a few quick facts about the Spanish Flu. The flu didn’t originate in Spain. Remember, this was 1918, the First World War was still on. Three countries – US, Britain and France had the flu before Spain, but managed to keep it out of newspapers to “avoid damaging morale”, Laura Spinney reported in a recent article in The Guardian. Spain, however, was neutral, so it didn’t censor its press. And because ‘news’ of the flu was first reported in Spain, it got called the Spanish Flu. But before this name caught on, the Brazilians called it t ....

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