Pandemics are a normal part of civilized life - from the Black Death in 1347 there were new outbreaks of the disease every ten to twenty years in most cities. Each one stopped when it had killed every susceptible person, so all that were left were people who had had it and were immune or who never had it because they were genetically immune.

That's the true meaning of herd immunity, by the way. Of course, after the first iruption most of the people killed by plague were children - which was economically less disastrous.

Quarantine was invented to stop the plague spreading: it worked quite well but it meant imprisoning people in their own homes or in their ships for 40 days.

That's because plague has a similar superpower to covid 19 - it stops you feeling ill so you can keep walking around and spreading the disease. With covid it's usually around 3-4 days, although it's now thought that 80% of people with covid notice no symptoms at all - that's why they keep spreading it. With plague it was weeks, during which you were contagious and if you had pneumonic plague, infectious.

Basically, thanks to modern science - hygiene, vaccinations - we had a seventy year holiday from pandemics.

Other diseases aren't so deadly because if you feel ill, you normally stay in bed and stop spreading. If you can, of course. That's why sick pay and good public health services are such an essential part of civilization.

I often think that covid 19 is really a starter pandemic - it's so mild. God help us when the next one comes along.