Against the backdrop of a World War I tank and medical orderly re-enactors from The Great War, Pastor Marc Herbst remembered those who died during the deadly “Spanish Flu” pandemic that swept the world a century ago during the height of World War I.
He also discussed what lessons that lethal outbreak has for New York and the nation during this current flu epidemic which is one of the most deadly flu seasons in recent memory.
In recognition of the “Spanish Flu” Centennial, Herbst joined Dr. Michael Castellano of NYU Winthrop Hospital and Dr. Libby O’Connell, the History Channel’s Chief Historian Emeritus and Chairperson of the NY World War I Centennial Commission as they gathered to remember the 20 to 50 million people who died from “The Spanish Flu” Pandemic, far more than all those who perished during World War I.
An estimated 43,000 American Doughboys died of the disease out of a total of 675,000 American who would succumb. A third of all Americans would become infected with the “Spanish Flu” which would ravage the world for a year.
This season the flu has been widespread in New York for 10 straight weeks. The NY Department of Health recorded 16,804 new cases of the virus last week, a 7-percent increase from the week before.
More than 69,000 New York residents have caught the flu since October. The virus has killed five children across the state, including two last week. New York City Department of Health reports four flu-related deaths in the five boroughs this year.
