As cities around the world try to contain the spread of the coronavirus, history offers a sobering lesson about the effectiveness of lockdowns and banning mass gatherings. In 1918, amid the Spanish flu pandemic, the city of Philadelphia in the United States decided not to cancel a huge parade. In contrast, the U.S. city of St. Louis imposed tough measures early on that banned public events. As a result, Philadelphia's death rate from Spanish flu was two times higher than that of St. Louis's.
Lessons In Lockdowns: Philadelphia Vs. St. Louis Amid The 1918 Spanish Flu
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The Naval Aircraft Factory float moves down Philadelphia's Broad Street during a Liberty Loan Parade on September 28, 1918. The parade was organized to raise funds for the U.S. government during World War I. But the event took place as the deadly Spanish flu was spreading around the globe. The day before the parade, Philadelphia recorded 118 people with influenza.
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Philadelphia had held several Liberty Loan parades in 1918, but the one on September 28 was billed as the city’s largest parade ever. Despite the growing number of influenza patients, authorities decided not to cancel the event and about 200,000 people attended. Three days later, there were no free beds available in Philadelphia's 31 hospitals.
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A sign warning workers not to spit at Philadelphia's Naval Aircraft Factory on October 19, 1918. Philadelphia turned out to be one of the hardest-hit cities in the United States by the Spanish flu pandemic after officials failed to move early to cancel mass gatherings, like the Liberty Loan Parade.
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An ambulance in front of the Girls Club of Philadelphia amid the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic. The building was used as an emergency hospital. More than 45,000 people in Philadelphia were infected with the influenza within a week of the Liberty Loan Parade and more than 12,000 of the city's citizens were dead.