Initially, an infectious disease transmitted by travelers from Asia arrived in Venice, Italy. Soon after, the leaders imposed a quarantine, stopping the flow of merchants and travelers.

This may seem a spectacle from the period we currently live in, in light of the outbreak of the new Corona epidemic, but in reality it is only a retrieval of the events of the spread of the plague in the fourteenth century. There are a few other diseases that have caused people to fear and panic, as much as it caused the plague (also known as black death), which has killed tens of millions of people in Europe.

"We have had to deal with the threat of epidemics, over and over, throughout history," says medical historian Carl Heinz Levin.

Levin, a professor at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany, explains that it may not be possible, scientifically, to compare the plague, caused by a bacterium, with the Corona virus currently sweeping the globe, but history provides many examples of how societies deal with epidemics.

Fighting the plague was one of the starting points for Europe, for the development of public health care systems. Levene says: In 1347, coastal cities did not move to the Mediterranean, when ships from the east brought the plague, which resulted in death rates ranging between 30 and 40%.

In subsequent epidemics, cities such as Florence, Venice, and Marseille took precautionary measures, as goods and travelers were trapped on nearby islands. The periods of detention varied, but they usually lasted for 40 days.

The word "quarantine" in English (quarantine) originally came from the word "40" in French.

The authorities made sure to close the homes, and the patients were taken to hospitals designated to treat plague cases.

"It was also a kind of curfew imposed today, as people stayed indoors and public life was paralyzed, despite the different circumstances," Levin said. People were frustrated, amid tight restrictions imposed on the church and the economy.

The crisis also saw people help each other.

During another wave of plague outbreaks in the sixteenth century, the Archbishop of Milan, Carlo Borromeo, invited patients and citizens in quarantine to watch the mass ceremony from the windows of their homes.

"Today, we see pictures of Italy showing citizens singing songs from their balcony," Levin says. People also helped each other when cholera broke out in Hamburg, Germany in 1892. “Citizens formed committees and ran health care services themselves,” he said, noting that they had organized groups to carry out cleansing, distributing water Drink after boiling it.

Epidemics in the past have also been associated with widespread rumors and conspiracy theories. Historians say that education and transparency are very important in such times.

They also learned lessons from the Spanish flu, which was estimated to have caused the death of between 25 and 50 million people in March 1918. Medical historian Volcker Rölke, a professor at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Giessen, in Germany, referring to that time of the crisis, says that "Underestimating, ignoring or denying the epidemic risk is a problem."

Reports showed that when the flu broke out in America, the authorities initially ignored the danger. "The authorities did not move until two or three months later, when more citizens were affected," Rollke said, adding that this did not prevent them from sending American soldiers to Europe.

On the other hand, says Nikolai Hanige, a historian in Munich, that schools closed in St. Louis, America, and citizens were isolated. An American study later proved that while the city, which the Mississippi River passes, witnessed a slow rise in the number of casualties, the city of Philadelphia - where public rallies were held even when citizens became uncomfortable - A rapid increase in the number of infected cases.

The measures are tried

Nikolai Hanige, a historian in Munich, says schools have closed in St. Louis, USA, and citizens have been isolated. An American study later proved that while the city that the Mississippi River passes experienced a slow rise in the number of injuries, the city of Philadelphia - where public rallies were held even when citizens became uncomfortable - rose rapidly. In the numbers of infected cases.

When cholera broke out in 1892 ... German citizens formed committees and ran the services themselves.

America ignored the Spanish flu at first, and did not move until two or three months later.

The Spanish flu killed 25 to 50 million people in March 1918.

The Spanish flu in March 1918 constituted an unprecedented global catastrophe. Archive