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HISTORY
History Tells Us What Might Happen Next With The Covid-19 Pandemic
Unfortunately, the coronavirus could be here to stay.
The global situation is starting to improve. Daily case counts of Covid-19 are gradually decreasing around the United States. There is a decline in hospitalizations and deaths throughout the country. Plus, vaccines are finally being rolled out to larger segments of the population. But of course, the virus is still present in the United States and around the world.
With new variants popping up quite often, it’s clear we’ve still got a way to go before the pandemic is officially over. But what will happen next? In order to understand the future, we should try and look back at the past.
During the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, the influenza strain continued to mutate and adapt in a process named “antigenic drift.” This is because a large percentage of the planet had been exposed to the virus and developed a level of natural immunity against it.
Throughout the winters of 1919–1921, subtly altered forms of the 1918 flu reemerged. However, they were much less lethal and almost impossible to distinguish from the seasonal flu.
Every seasonal and pandemic flu over the past century seems to be the direct ancestor of…
