People are once again clamoring for numbers – confirmed cases, hospitalizations, deaths and positivity rates – and for exactly the same reason. Plague was generally understood to be contagious, either through touching infected objects – mainly cloth – or through breathing infected air. And while it wasn’t a widely embraced practice, in later epidemics some doctors also wore the infamous plague masks. In April 1599, a physician warned the city government of Valladolid, Spain, that he had treated a patient who died of plague. People failed to report plague cases to avoid being forced to self-isolate, afraid of the economic, interpersonal or reputational consequences.

Source: The Guardian July 19, 2020 10:30 UTC