One thing is certain – nothing will ever be the same again

It might seem that what is happening in the world right now is something new that has never happened before – but that’s not quite the case. Such biblical outbreaks have happened before and with calamitous consequences.  A century ago in 1918, the Spanish flu reached the shores of Ireland, killing indiscriminately and causing massive disruption in society. It’s hard to get an accurate figure for how many people caught the flu but it could have been between 800,000 to one million. And between 20,000 and 25,000 people died – of all ages, including the very young.

Contemporary reports show that services, hospitals, and residential homes were overwhelmed. Coffins were stacked up eighteen-high in one Dublin mortuary because of the speed of attrition, and also because of the lack of gravediggers.

And then there was TB – a bacteria rather than a virus but that made it no less deadly. In the early part of the last century, it was reckoned to be killing 10,000 people a year in Dublin, many in the overcrowded tenements.

So, such plagues have occurred through the centuries – but, for our generation, outside common memory.

And what is different about this one is the overwhelming speed of transmission and the overwhelming volume of information throughout the world.

We live in a connected universe. There are daily flights from Ireland to just about every corner in the world. And so the virus has spread with mind-boggling rapidity.

It is only four months ago, in December, that the first report came in from Wuhan of an infection, believed to have been passed on by a bat at a live animal market (where they butcher on the spot). At the end of March, over 800,000 people have contracted it worldwide, of whom 40,000 have died.

That connection is also a non-physical one made possible by technology, both a blessing and a curse.

On the upside, it has allowed medical experts to learn very quickly what has worked – and not worked – elsewhere. Irish epidemiology specialists are in WhatsApp groups with colleagues from Wuhan and Lombardy where they share knowledge. Those searching for a vaccine can pool their research and trials.

The downside is that myths have been created and shared on social media, leading to a societal sense of mild panic.

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