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Hallberg's Picture of Health
Tom Crann and Dr. Jon Hallberg

Dr. Hallberg: Century-old public health measures still relevant today

Emergency shelter
The Duluth Armory served as an emergency shelter during the massive wildfire that burned through Cloquet, Minn. and near Duluth in 1918, killing more than 400 people. Many people in the photo are wearing face masks to try to protect themselves from the Spanish flu epidemic.
Courtesy of Archives and Special Collections, Kathryn A. Martin Library, University of Minnesota Duluth

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A piece in the New York Times this month tells us that America’s response to the 1918 flu pandemic isn’t all that different from its response to COVID-19 today.

Public health officials turned to social distancing to slow the spread of the virus. And, despite opposition like today, they promoted mask-wearing.

“For years I felt so sorry for those folks in 1918. They were limited to wearing masks. What could they possibly have done against the virus?” said Dr. Jon Hallberg, medical director or the University of Minnesota Physicians Mill City Clinic. “We’ve really learned that masks actually work, and they work because the viruses are not just spreading around by themselves, they’re hitching rides to droplets. And if we can contain droplets by wearing a mask, we can reduce spread.

“I think it’s hard for us to wrap our heads around the fact that something we did 102 years ago is still relevant today,” he said.

Hallberg told MPR News host Tom Crann that data from 1918 and 1919 comparing cities with mask mandates and those without show just how effective masks were in controlling the pandemic.

You can hear their conversation by clicking play on the audio player above.