I've seen a number of articles detailing what was called the Spanish Flu. That Pandemic really had nothing to do with Spain, it got its name because the countries engaged in the Great War heavily censored their news so neutral Spain was the only one writing about it.
It was a horrible disease that claimed its victims quickly and killed quickly. It may have killed as many as 100 million people worldwide and over 600,000 in the United States.
There was no effective treatment except for social isolation and basic sanitation and one treatment recommended at the time (high doses of aspirin) may have been deadly.
Eventually we developed herd immunity and it faded into history.
Since then medical progress has improved although at the time everyone seemed to have masks available to wear in public. In some cities you were fined for not wearing one.
It may simply be the way these things have to happen. A highly infectious virus is going to infect many people and it doesn't take much to lose control. Its certainly possible that if we tested everyone we might already find high infection rates in hotspots.
There are two ways this will end or at least become less threatening. First once we develop herd immunity, similar to the Spanish Flu. That will require vast infection rates and unacceptable numbers of deaths. The other will be the development of an effective vaccine.
Either way we need to be at least as smart as we were in 1918 and use masks and good sanitation to reduce the number of infections. Wash your hands, don a mask, do what you have to do, remove mask and wash your hands without touching your face.
Other items that might be exposed should be handled carefully although the danger of secondary infection is variable.
If someone in your household in infected exercise extreme caution.
Be Safe.
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