All these people in quarantine with suspected Corona virus shows exactly the lengths we'd have to go to if something like measles or mumps started doing the rounds again.
Quarantine used to be standard for things like mumps, measles, diphtheria. My nan today told me the harrowing story of when she had to be quarantined in hospital at two years old for two months because she'd been exposed to diphtheria. She had forgotten how to talk when she came out. I recently re-read a childhood favourite, the twins at st Clare's, and in one book the twins were quarantined as they had played tennis with a child who had come down with mumps. It used to be a common occurrence and was really the only way to prevent the spread of the disease.
My generation (early 30s) and the few generations before me have never really had to deal with things like quarantines because vaccinations have mostly eradicated the disease's that plagued our older generations childhood's.
Would our society cope, would our NHS cope ,with so many more vulnerable people who could really be very ill should these illnesses come back? Would workplaces cope with parents off work if they had a child that had just come into contact with measles they then had to quarantine?
It's a very sobering thought that we take for granted these diseases have mostly been eradicated due to the pain and experience and research of our past generations.