Lethbridge historian, Belinda Crowson, says there are many similarities between the approach to COVID-19 and to the Spanish Influenza more than a century ago. “Every pandemic and epidemic has had something different about it,” Crowson said. “When we look at the 1918 -1919 one, there’s a lot of similarities because the government tried many of the same things.” In the winter of 1918 there were more than 2200 cases and 94 deaths recorded in Lethbridge.
The following January saw 126 new cases and 13 deaths recorded, then 224 cases and 22 deaths were reported between April 10 and 25. “They set up extra hospitals, they warned people what to expect, so the Medical Officer of Health, Dr.