In San Francisco, city leaders jointly signed a statement, full page in the paper, “WEAR A MASK AND SAVE YOUR LIFE.” They did not know masks did no good, but the point is that the city functioned well, even though people were afraid – with the result that, in another example, when schools closed teachers volunteered as anything from ambulance drivers to telephone operators.
People were starving because no one had the courage to bring them food. Volunteers were called for again and again and again, but no volunteers came forward. In 1918 in Philadelphia, for example, people were lied to and the city all but fell apart. In Singapore, the Prime Minister told blunt truths at the beginning, ended panic buying and, more importantly, it’s one reason Singapore has gotten way ahead of the virus. Second, if you want people to comply with your recommendations – and compliance is crucial to success – they have to believe you and trust you. Once the fear becomes concrete we can deal with it. In a horror movie, it’s always scariest before the monster appears. When people don’t think they’re getting a straight message they feel uncertain. People are always more afraid of the unknown. 1, authorities need to tell the truth, even when it’s uncomfortable – especially when it’s uncomfortable. John Barry: There are several and I think they are all important.
I have a lot of questions about your great book! First one: What lessons can we learn from the influenza pandemic of 1918-19 that we should be applying today? What follows is that e-mail interview, lightly edited: Barry, a professor at the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, was nice enough to do an e-mail interview with me about the subject of his book and what we can learn from it. Barry’s “The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History.” I’ve been reading a great book about a horrific pandemic that gripped the world more than a century ago, John M.
0 kommentar(er)
