Thread by @luckytran

#Coronavirus lessons from the past: In the 1918 Spanish flu outbreak, St. Louis cancelled its public events while Philadelphia proceeded with a 200,000 person parade.

This was the result:

Within 72 hours every bed in the city’s 31 hospitals was filled. This & other public health fumbles by city authorities lead to a much higher death rate than those cities which implemented multiple interventions were implemented at an early phase

Source: pnas.org/content/104/18…

Right now many of the largest cities in the US (Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, and New York City) are preparing to hold parades for #StPatricksDay.

City leadership should listen to public health experts and cancel these events.

#coronavirus #COVID19

vice.com/en_us/article/…

Thank you to Irish leaders for leading the way and canceling the #StPatricksDay parade in Dublin, which is usually attended by 500,000 people.

I hope cities around the world follow their example.

#coronavirus #COVID19

bbc.com/news/world-eur…

Here's a great #FlattenTheCurve animation by @alxrdk.

Early containment makes a big difference in the ability of our healthcare systems to deal with the outbreak.

The quicker we can slow the spread, the lower the mortality rate.

#coronavirus #COVID19