COVID-19 need not be a 1918 repeat

New Zealand's leading historian of the 1918 influenza pandemic says history doesn't need to repeat itself, so long as the country continues to respond quickly. Writing in the New Zealand Medical Journal, Professor Geoffrey Rice says that in last week's lockdown, one of the biggest lessons from 1918 had been applied: "respond quickly or it will run away out of control." However, he warns that the pandemic could be "the most severe test our hospital system has ever had to face ... 'flattening the curve' by staying at home is the best way the rest of us can ensure that our hospital system does not collapse under the strain".