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In 1918, with the Spanish flu pandemic raging around the world, which estimated to have killed between 50 and 100 million people, the then-rulers faced the same dilemma that education ministers face today: Should schools be open in a pandemic? The vast majority were in it, but several cities in the US decided to reintroduce face-to-face learning. How did it end?
- New York, Chicago and New Haven in 1918, during the pandemic, the Spanish decided not to close the schools. Health experts believed that the school would provide better care for the children
- Although schools in Chicago were open to students, absenteeism was high. Parents were afraid to send their children to school
- In Poland, most schools remained open during the Spanish pandemic. Some cities, such as Przemyśl, have decided to temporarily close schools
- For more up-to-date information on the coronavirus epidemic, visit the Onet homepage.
Open schools during the Spanish pandemic
According to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Spanish pandemic killed 675 Americans. No wonder the vast majority of cities have closed schools for the duration of the pandemic. According to historians, only three cities – New York, Chicago and New Haven – have decided not to close their educational institutions. Why did they make such a decision?
Officials in these cities relied on the words of public health experts to explain that students are safer during their stay in the institution. At that time, the emphasis was placed on hygiene in schools, and the children were looked after by the medical staff.
According to CNN, in 1918, nearly one million school-age children lived in New York. The vast majority of them (75%) lived in tenement houses, often living in crowded and unsanitary conditions. For such students, going back to school seemed a safer solution. The classrooms were clean, well ventilated, and the teachers and nurses present at the school were prepared to look after the children. They were also able to pick up on the symptoms of the disease and take care of the child properly. For more information on children’s health in the context of returning to school during the Spanish epidemic, see an article in Public Health Reports.
- If the “Spanish” exploded now, there would be 430 million deaths
An efficient system of isolating students
New York City was one of the US’s earliest and hardest hit cities. After the outbreak in New York, the then health expert Dr. Royal S. Copeland told the New York Times that students are not allowed to form groups outside of school and should report to the teacher before class. The teacher checked the students for flu symptoms. If a student showed disturbing symptoms, he was isolated from the rest.
Students with a fever, escorted by a health department employee, were transported home. The official assessed whether the child would have adequate conditions for isolation and whether someone could look after him. If not, the child was hospitalized. “The Department of Health required families of children recovering at home to be under the care of a family doctor or under the free care of a public doctor,” the report reads.
- Check out how to prepare for flu season:
«Fluphobia», that is, the fear of being infected with a Spanish woman
Similar arguments as in New York were also presented by health experts from Chicago. There, 500 children attended schools during the Spanish pandemic. Keeping schools open was to ensure that children had limited contact with infected adults and prevented them from spending their free time in the streets.
It turned out, however, that this idea was not entirely successful. Dr. Howard Markel, a medical historian and director of the Center for the History of Medicine at the University of Michigan and co-author of the previously cited publication, explained that there was a kind of “fluphobia” among parents – the number of absent children was so large that most of the classes simply was not taking place. Parents were afraid to send their children to school.
Was opening schools during the Spanish pandemic a good idea?
Looking back at the decisions made during the Spanish pandemic, Dr. Markel, who, together with other researchers, analyzed the data and historical records documenting the response of 43 cities to the 1918 pandemic, is not convinced of the rightness of the actions of health experts in the cities that decided to not to close schools.
New York did not do the worst, but it did not do too well either. Chicago did a bit better – said Markel.
Research showed that cities that implemented quarantine, isolation, closed schools, and banned public gatherings did by far the best. Cities that have implemented more than one of these preventive measures plus school closures have been more mildly affected by the pandemic.
Polish schools during the Spanish pandemic in 1918-1920
Historian Rafał Kuzak writes about the Spanish pandemic in Poland. In Poland, the Spanish woman began to attack for good in the fall of 1918, lasted throughout 1919 and the beginning of 1920. Quoted by Kuzak in an article on the website “Wielka Historia”, prof. Jan Wnęk said that at that time “voices prevailed about the need to isolate the sick in larger population centers (hospitals, barracks, prisons), during the epidemic, prohibiting people from gathering at shows and fairs”.
According to the information provided by the conservative Krakow daily “Czas”, in mid-October 1918 all folk and secondary schools in Przemyśl, as well as cinemas and public meetings were closed for a period of 14 days. Although the cafes remained open, they could only work until 20 pm. Schools and cinemas were also closed in Rzeszów and several other cities.
However, these actions were not praised by the experts of the time. In the official “Polish Monitor” quoted by Kuzak in the issue of January 27, 1920 (the third wave of Spanish women in Poland), one could read that “the complete isolation of the disease is obviously impossible to carry out, placing all cases of the disease in the hospital is also impossible (… ). Experience has shown that school closings do not lead to the desired goal ». The closing of cinemas and theaters was also unfavorable. It has been argued that it is easier to catch flu in an apartment than in a well-ventilated room.
According to estimated data, 1918 people died during the Spanish epidemic in Poland in 1920-250.
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