Compared to other previous viral threats, we're better equipped to tackle Covid-19

Even in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, we need to be grateful for living in the best of times characterised by spectacular advances in global literacy levels, science and technology. The generation that inhabited the world in 1918 experienced the worst state of affairs while grappling with the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, the deadliest in history.

To better appreciate the times the global population is currently living in, the following scenarios highlight the fundamental differences between Covid-19 and the 1918 pandemic, which was caused by H1N1 influenza virus.