COVID-19 in Historical Perspective

The COVID-19 pandemic has left us with a lot of questions about the role, the place, and repeated occurrence of new diseases. This lecture considers COVID-19 in light of several past pandemics, starting with the global spread of disease in the 19^th century, turning to the decline of infectious diseases in the 20^th century, and finally, the reemergence of infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, Ebola, and H1N1 as precursors to our handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.