Terry Wiens survived an earlier epidemic of historic proportions — the polio epidemic of 1953. (Terry Wiens/supplied)Like COVID-19, polio was highly contagious — though it spread through contaminated food and water, as opposed to respiratory droplets. Like COVID-19, polio ravaged the vulnerable, though usually younger people rather than older adults. And so the epidemic of their past now leaves them physically vulnerable to this newest epidemic. But there is no end in sight to the immediate pandemic — and with never-ending memories of the earlier epidemic, polio survivors are bracing for the worst.

Source: CBC News March 29, 2020 10:52 UTC