Analyze an Explanation Text
How Some Cities ‘Flattened The Curve’ During The 1918 Flu Pandemic
Opening Statement
|
Philadelphia detected its first case of a deadly,
fast-spreading strain of influenza on September 17, 1918. The next day, in an
attempt to halt the virus’ spread, city officials launched a campaign against
coughing, spitting, and sneezing in public. Yet 10 days later—despite the prospect
of an epidemic at its doorstep—the city hosted a parade that 200,000 people
attended. |
Sequence Paragraphs
|
Flu Cases continued to mount until finally, on October
3, schools, churches, theaters, and public gathering were shut down. Just two
weeks after the first reported case, there were at least 20,000 more. The
1918 flu, also known as the Spanish Flu, lasted until 1920 and is considered
the deadliest pandemic in modern history.
From its first known U.S. case, at a Kansas military base in March 1918, the flu spread across the country. Dramatic demographic shifts in the past century have made containing a pandemic increasingly hard. The rise of globalization, urbanization, and larger, more densely populated cities can facilitate a virus’s spread across a continent in a few hours –while the tools available to respond have remained nearly the same. These
measures include closing schools, shops, and restaurant; placing restrictions
on transportation; mandating social distancing, and banning public
gatherings. After implementing a multitude of strict closures and controls on
public gatherings, St. Louis, San Francisco, Milwaukee, and Kansas City
responded fastest and most effectively: Interventions there were credited
with cutting transmission rates by 30 to 50 percent. New York City which
reacted earliest to the crisis with mandatory quarantines and staggered business
hours, experienced the lowest death rate on the Eastern seaboard.
|
Conclusion
|
The most effective effort had simultaneously closed schools, churches, and theaters, and banned public gatherings.
In 1918, the studies found, the key to flattering the curve was social
distancing. The studies reached another important conclusion: That relaxing
intervention measures too early could case an otherwise stabilized city to
relapse. |
No comments:
Post a Comment