Virginia Tech professor compares COVID-19 with Spanish Influenza

BLACKSBURG, Va – A history professor at Virginia Tech is weighing in on the similarities and differences between COVID-19 and the Spanish Influenza pandemic almost 100 years ago.

Over the two-year course of the pandemic in 1918, an estimated 675,000 Americans died from influenza and pneumonia. Professor Tom Ewing says back then if people did not like wearing masks, it was typically based on where you lived and not politics.

“There wasn’t the partisanship that we see now where you can look at a state and say if it’s a democratic governor they are probably doing these things and if it’s a republican they probably aren’t and that’s a real difference from 1918,” said VT history professor Tom Ewing.

Ewing says another big difference is the Spanish Flu had a greater impact on young people in their 20′s and 30′s.


About the Author:

Annie Schroeder joined the 10 News team as a reporter in June 2020 and is no stranger to Southwest Virginia.