How would Covid have played out 10... 20... 30 years ago... or longer?

[dodi1978]

HI,

sorry if this thread has already been done, but I am always wondering how Covid would have played out if it hadn't been 2020. Even thinking back to 2000 - no mobile phones, dial up internet for most... how would home schooling have worked?
Or longer ago, pre-internet. Would workers have taken big files home? Or would there have been emergency staff in to keep public services going?
Your thoughts? Looking forward to reading up tomorrow morning.

Look up the Spanish flu pandemic 100 yrs ago:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu

We would have carried on most likely

A hell of a lot more people would have died, because lockdowns would have been impossible.

More people would have died of Covid in 2020.
Fewer people would be dying of other conditions since 2020 because services would have had to have continued functioning.

There was an outbreak in the sixties I think. Asked my parents about it and they didn't even know...
I wonder about the nineties when I was my children's age. I can't see home schooling working.

A few (substantial few) would have died from covid.

There would not have been the hue increase in domestic violence with fewer people (mostly women) dying at the hands of their partners, fewer children dying at the hands of parents and partners of parents,

Fewer people dying of curable cancer. fewer people dying or being more seriously disabled as a result of strokes/heart conditions.

More vulnerable people dying of flu and other respiratory conditions.

More people continuing to take personal responsibility.

Babies being born with both parents present (which is known to strengthen bonds)

Fewer elderly people being neglected by overstretched staff (at best) without having the support of family and friends

Fewer people left to die in total confusion and feeling totally deserted whilst existing with dementia

Mental health of the nation being less fucked by restrictions

AND
the pandemic being managed as per the planning that has been in place for years rather than managed by the press, social media and manipulative twats like Cummings

Overall more people would have died but within a few years the average death rate per annum would not be very different than if the pandemic had never happened.

Whilst death is sad it is inevitable and the majority of extra deaths that happened are likely to have happened within the next few years anyway

Would workers have taken big files home?

In the 70s/80s my career-focused dad often took work home with him, and it was exactly that - huge paper files. This was long before the Data Protection Act!

@ClariceQuiff

Would workers have taken big files home?

In the 70s/80s my career-focused dad often took work home with him, and it was exactly that - huge paper files. This was long before the Data Protection Act!

My dad did the same. Used to drive my mum mad. Can’t imagine how annoying it must have been to lug half your workplace around. I guess that’s why people don’t buy briefcases anymore.

I went to a small school with all my friends living very close by. I could imagine homeschooling would involve my teachers walking around posting work through letterboxes. Oh and there was the appalling BBC2 educational TV to entertain us all day. But we probably would have rioted if not allowed to play out and see our friends.

I think (30+) years ago it would have been barely noticed. Yes, there would have been more deaths that year and it would have been chalked up to a 'bad' flu year. Herd immunity would have been reached and then it would have been mostly forgotten about. We definitely would not have had lockdowns, masks etc etc.

The vaccine technology that had been in the pipeline for years and was pivoted into making covid vaccines wouldn't have existed. So we wouldn't have these vaccines 2 years into the pandemic.

Without current advances in ventilation technology and nursing techniques there would be more deaths.

I am not so sure there wouldn't have been lockdowns. I was talking to my grandmother and she mentioned one year where her school didn't go back for a whole term after the summer holidays due to 'a bad polio season.' It wasn't called a lockdown but cinemas etc were shut and parents (well, mothers) were expected to home school using textbooks.

My mothers school was closed by heavy snow one winter due to bad weather. They had lessons via radio. (Just one way, not interactive).

The Spanish flu killed 500 million people. And that was in an age when all and sundry weren’t flying between countries every 5 minutes.

Younger population prior to the 80's, so far fewer deaths. Fewer medical treatments available (compared to today's standards)- you were less likely to go to ICU, you died or got better on your own. This means that the medical system was less easy to overwhelm.

the pandemic being managed as per the planning that has been in place for years rather than managed by the press, social media and manipulative twats like Cummings
Yes this would be the main thing. No daily death announcements and social media posts telling people off.

30+ years ago, there wouldn't have been care homes full of 90 year olds so that would not have been such a concern.

Medical technologies and information sharing would have been much less effective so vaccines probably would have taken longer to develop.

It's a bit crazy isn't it.

I don't think there'd have been lockdowns in the 90s when I was at school.

The internet was rare or non existent in people's homes for majority of the decade.
People would get their news from the TV or newspapers.
There wasn't social media in the way we have it now. So I'd imagine what we'd have been told would have been very carefully managed. And we may not have heard anything from China about it for a much longer time.

You might have a work intranet though, but I can't see the government shutting down businesses in a lockdown because the economy would have shut down entirely. Very few people could have worked from home long term.
Pretty sure masks would have come in very soon and perhaps staggered starts for businesses and schools.
Or maybe a week on, week off scenario.

It may have been assumed to be a bad new strain of flu for a while too.

Everyone would have had to go out and buy their shopping for a start.

People have a very twisted idea as to what life was like 30 years ago. Of course we had people in care homes. We had computers. (Though not internet). I even had a mobile phone.

I think more people would have died. The vaccine would have taken longer to develop. But the world really hasn't changed that much in 30 years.

30-40 years ago Kids would have been told what to do with text books - read pages 10-12 and exercises on page 13.

Teacher might have been able to dial kids in to a conference type phone call.

Possibly done as a come to school collect work - drop off and go home.

Bbc would have played their educational programme on BBC2 and possibly some morning slots on BBC1 they'd have made use of the 4 & regional radio stations.

My secondary school closed for a week because of a meningitis out break. Everyone given antibiotics that made you pee orange.
We also had a teacher diagnosed with TB everyone was tested and boosted for it. The mobile x-ray unit was at the school to check kids who reacted to the skin test.

We also had to provide saliva samples but I can't remember if that was related to TB or Meningitis.

Offices were smaller, less big open plan spaces, many in converted houses so naturally more social distancing.

I guess people used more paper files so would have taken stuff home to work on if they could. Even if it meant going in and out the office every few days.

But the world really hasn't changed that much in 30 years.

It really, really has. Social media, accessible internet and smartphone technology changed EVERYTHING.

A lot of the thing on this thread would work on a small scale but not on the large scale that technology has allowed now

In 30 years the population over 90 has increased massively. Also the number of obese people. A healthy younger population would have had better outcomes

30 years ago was 1992, a PC would set you back a grand, I was a trainee on £4k per annum.
Few people had them at home unless it was work related.
The small company I worked for had one PC, which was the admin lady, used for typing letters and everything else.
People used briefcases 💼

The next company I worked for had dummy terminals which connected to some sort of main computer in the basement. But lots of stuff was still done on paper - fax machines were a thing.

Pretty much the only thing people had delivered 30 years ago was furniture and large things like that, some people had 'club books' for clothes and the milkman but that was about it. There was no Amazon, Ocado or Tesco online shopping

@mjf981

I think (30+) years ago it would have been barely noticed. Yes, there would have been more deaths that year and it would have been chalked up to a 'bad' flu year. Herd immunity would have been reached and then it would have been mostly forgotten about. We definitely would not have had lockdowns, masks etc etc.

Of course they would have noticed ICU being full of people with covid and lots of people dying.