Teo wrote:

---

The Spanish flu did not originate in Spain. No real country of origin is named, even the good old USA is mentioned as a source along with many other countries. 

-- Edited by Teo on Tuesday 28th of April 2020 12:02:44 PM

---

 Yes, it apparently appeared that Spain had many early cases mainly due to the media having no restrictions on reporting the numbers as many other countrys media sources were restricted due to the war.

It is also interesting that although our experts today say one was a flu and the other a virus, the Wikipedia article and other resources quite often refer to the Spanish Flu as a Virus and a pandemic.

In any case all these virus/flu pandemics are not to be taken lightly.

I note that all these cases of people breaking the rules with regard to distance isolation all seem to be young ones.

I wonder if this Chinese virus affected the young adults like the Spanish Flu did, would they be so willing to disobey the rules.

Have a read of the Spanish Flu here.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu

Regards

Angie

Whenarewethere wrote:

---

It was called the Spanish Flu because Spain was the only country that was transparent. Other countries were busy covering their death rates, so the name stuck.

Lesson is, cover up death rates so a name doesn't stick!

---

 Yes, apparently Spain was neutral,

From the Wiki link above. Also note the Virus Strain H1N1

Spanish flu
Soldiers from Fort Riley, Kansas, ill with Spanish flu at a hospital ward at Camp Funston
Disease	Influenza
Virus strain	H1N1
Location	Worldwide
First outbreak	Disputed
Date	January 1918 December 1920
Confirmed cases	500 million (estimate)[1]
Deaths	17,000,00050,000,000+ (estimate)

To maintain morale, World War I censors minimized early reports of illness and mortality in Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and the United States. Newspapers were free to report the epidemic's effects in neutral Spain, such as the grave illness of King Alfonso XIII, and these stories created a false impression of Spain as especially hard hit. This gave rise to the name Spanish flu. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify with certainty the pandemic's geographic origin, with varying views as to its location.

Mike Harding wrote:

From today's The Age:

https://www.theage.com.au/national/we-can-t-return-to-business-as-usual-with-china-20200428-p54nty.html

---

 I thought to myself, what a brilliant, insightful piece of journalism. I didn't expect this from a commercial news outlet. And then I realised that the author was an ex-ABC journo.

Chris Uhlmann provided a much needed conservative counterbalance at the ABC. As you point out, he may not have left voluntarily. In any case I expect that he will probably go bad like Richard Carleton and Harry Butler.

BTW, I notice that Hamish MacDonald dabbles in both camps concurrently. I wonder how that messes with his brain.