From the AP: “Venezuela will implement a nationwide quarantine after detecting 16 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Monday, President [sic!] Nicolas Maduro said, adding that the total number of cases in the South American country has risen to 33.”

It is a given that the numbers are worse, as the Venezuelan state pronouncements have proved to be among the most unreliable.

There is a macabre irony in this latest news concerning the Wuhan Flu (Coronavirus): one of the worst pandemics to afflict the earth was popularly known as the Spanish Flu (or Spanish Influenza).

About 15 years ago, I read The Great Influenza, by John M. Barry. Setting aside his Darwinian presuppositions, Mr. Barry’s opus is an unforgettable, haunting tour de force. I’ve not opened the book since my first reading, but, given all the frenzy accompanying the Coronavirus, I’m considering re-adding to my reading pile.

The Great Influenza is considered to be the deadliest pandemic in history. It infected 500 million people, one-third of the world’s population, with up to 100 million deaths, or a 20% mortality rate. That’s far more than all the soldiers and civilians killed by the war. Most affected were the very young (under 5), those in the 20-40 age group, and those over 65. A most unique age distribution whose explanation is beyond the scope of this overview.

Mr. Barry makes the case that the virus originated in the hog farms of Kansas and spread to the U.S. Army base there and from thence to the world as armies were transported to all points on earth. However, more recent discoveries point to origins in China. 

Although the origins of the flu may be debatable, the origins of the moniker are not. During the Great War (WWI), the Allied powers were very well aware of a devastating virus which was killing thousands of soldiers and civilians; however, they wanted to keep that under wraps so as to not hurt morale and to not disrupt war production. Yes, our wise and compassionate shepherds were telling us to suck it up and get back to the wartime factories and bases. 

And spread the virus.

Spain was a neutral country and as the flu ravaged her, their newspapers were not shy in reporting its terrible advance, even infecting the Spanish king, Alfonso XIII. The Allies were perfectly content to let the world think it was due to something in Spain. However, as deaths accumulated — eventually killing 500,000-700,000 in the United States — its ravages could no longer be ignored.

Many Americans noticed symptoms in the morning and were dead by nightfall.

One story tells of a man who boarded a Philadelphia trolley. A fellow passenger fell over dead within minutes, another disembarked and keeled over, dead; finally the conductor succumbed. The passenger, unhurt, disembarked and walked home. Many symptoms were triggered by this pandemic, including coughing up blood as lungs collapsed.

It was a terrible scourge. Death was everywhere. A children’s rhyme in 1918 was:

“I had a little bird
Its name was Enza
I opened up the window
and in flew enza.”

My mother  was born about a decade after the flu ran its course. She recalls that my grandmother said little about it other than, “Murieron muchos. [Many died.]” And that was well in the interior of Venezuela. There are few today who lived through that pandemic. Fritzi Bryant is one of them. She is 106 years old and lives in a nursing home in Washington State. She was interviewed recently.

“I’m doing wonderful,” she said. “Just fine. Everything is fine here. Plenty to eat, which is good. You have to look at the sunny side instead of the bad side of things.” 

“There’s no sense in playing it down; you have to look it square in the face…to do everything you can in your power to make it better.”

My son, Nathan, recently posted some comments on Isaiah 41:1-10. Below are the first verse followed by his respective comments thereon:

“Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment.” 

(Everyone pause and listen, stop your panic and hear…. We are not called to keep in silent fear behind shut doors, but to gather near to God and encourage one another with words of hope, and then determine what is right to do and act accordingly. It seems we have skipped that first step, and in skipping it, we are not sure what to do; in not knowing what to do, we fear; and in fearing, we overreact; and in overreacting, we make extreme decisions; and in making extreme decisions, we collapse.)

So far, it’s 0.0039% and 0.0033%. Those are the percentages (.000039 and .000033, in decimal format) which represent the number of cases in the United States and in the world, compared to the total US and world populations, respectively, including deaths, recoveries, in-treatments. Compare those figures to the 33% infection rate during the Great Influenza. However, this is not the picture painted by the media and the bureaucrats, which lead to believe the Zombie Apocalypse is upon us. 

It is not irrational to ask: are the “remedies” being imposed upon us worse than the disease? Life savings and annual earnings have been wiped out. And more is to come if nothing changes. A number of jurisdictions have, in effect, ordered the closure of churches. This might be the right thing to do; but be not afraid to ask questions.

We are to be prudent. But we are not to lose our minds, let alone our courage.

“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1)”

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 

I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: My God; in him will I trust.

Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler,And from the noisome pestilence.

He shall cover thee with his feathers,And under his wings shalt thou trust:

His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; Nor for the arrow that flight by day;

Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness;Nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.(Psalm 91:1-6)

Trust God and carry on.