The Spanish Flu 1918: How did society change during this time and how did it

stay the same?

A century ago, there had been a world pandemic which was a virus named as the
Spanish flu, and currently, there has also been a new virus that is spreading all around the
world known as COVID-19 or the Coronavirus. These two viruses have both similarities and
differences. Two differences are having global health system in 2020 when it did not exist in
1918, and being provided with support from the government, whereas in 1918, the society was
not supported. One similarity is that both the Spanish flu and COVID-19 came out as new
viruses. Therefore, these two world pandemics are both similar and different in many ways
which help show how the society has changed and how it stayed the same. To begin with,
during the spanish flu which occurred in 1918-1919, global health system did not exist as it does
now during COVID-19. For example, in Canada, there is free healthcare which is very helpful,
however not even one health system existed in 1918, as the article stated, “the global health
system now crucial to the COVID-19 response did not exist a century ago.” Therefore, if there
had been global health system a century ago, the number of people infected and deaths may
have been lower. Moreover, the government did not support the society during spanish flu as it
does now during COVID-19. For example, in Canada, the government is supporting its citizens
in many ways such as economically by providing student emergency benefits, however, a
century ago, the government did not support the society during the Spanish flu in any way, as
the article stated, “People forced themselves to go to work, for fear of losing their jobs and to
make money so they could get treatment for family members who were ill.” Therefore, not many
things existed during the Spanish flu in order to help the society. Finally, a similarity between the
two viruses is that the Spanish flu and COVID-19 both came out as new viruses which no one
knew a lot about. For example, as the article stated, “COVID-19 and the Spanish flu both
presented novel, or new, viruses,” COVID-19 started in China which came from bats and no one
knew about it until it came out, and the Spanish flu was discovered during WWI which the
countries it started in did not want to announce the virus in order to beat their enemies during
the war. Therefore, it was a struggle during the world wide virus back then and now since no
one knew about any of the viruses and there was no cure when they were discovered. In
conclusion, all the differences and similarities between the two viruses show how the society
changed and how it stayed the same by having more support and global health system.