Please share with all who are keen in eradicating pandemic of COVID 10

1. Lessons from UK history to deal
with the current COVID-19
pandemic
Eyam is a small lead-mining village in Derbyshire and is historical for events that
happened there many years ago, back during the 17th century.
It is a sad tale of how an entire village came together, united in self-sacrifice, despite
knowing their outcome was bleak; it is a tale preserved and retold by people in the local
area and one we can all learn from.
Eyam’s fame comes from how it’s inhabitants gave their lives to save countless others
during the Great Plague of 1665 and 1666. England, and London in particular, was
ravaged by a ‘Black Death’ – the bubonic plague, a deadly bacillus carried by fleas
transported by roaming black rats. The Great Plague killed an estimated 100,000 people,
roughly 15 per cent of London’s population at that time. No one was safe. It didn’t
discriminate and no one knew who was next.
In 1665, Alexander Hadfield, a tailor, ordered a bale of cloth from London to make into
clothes for the villagers. He unwittingly triggered a chain of events that led to some 260
of Eyam’s 350 villagers dying. It started when George Viccars, assistant to Alexander,
opened the roll of cloth but found it “damp and smelling foul’’, so he put it near the fire
to dry.
But the warmth from the fire caused the fleas to leave the cloth and settle on him, biting
him. He was dead within seven days, followed soon after by his two stepsons, and
immediate neighbour – and then the tailor himself. Within a few weeks, in September,
five people from the village died.
In October, 23 perished. People were dropping, all seemingly at random. It was clear the
much-feared plague had reached the village.
But rather than flee, the terrified locals united behind their rector, The Rev William
Mompesson. He argued that they should quarantine themselves, allowing nobody to
enter or leave the village – fully knowing that many would not survive.
Eyam’s villagers set an extraordinary example of self-sacrifice – by sealing off their village
to prevent the disease spreading to other villages.
Initially many had wanted to flee to Sheffield, the nearest big city, but the Reverend
persuaded them that to do so would be to risk countless more lives when the north had
not suffered as London and its surrounds had. Instead he ordered families to bury their

2. dead in their own plots, not the church burial ground, and later suspended church
services, allowing only open-air gatherings.
In the following months, people watched so many of their fellow villagers die, often
whole families. They are memorialised as plaques outside a row of the cottages beside
the church.
The villagers set up an arrangement & were supplied with food by those who lived
outside the village. People brought donations of food and left them at the parish stones
that marked the start of Eyam village. The villagers, in turn, left money in a stone with
holes filled with vinegar to sterilise the coins. The Boundary Stone still remains today as
do many plaques in memory of those who lost their lives.
There are many, many more plaques in remembrance, along with grave stones and other
historical artifacts - far too many to put here, but if you are interested then a quick
google search will show you the rest.
If any lessons can be revisited when it comes to pandemics - this is one of them. By
isolating, Eyam’s villagers saved many many lives of others around the country - people
they had never met & sadly never would.
“Now, blessed be God, all our fears are over for none have died of the plague since
the eleventh of October and the pest-houses have long been empty.” - Rev William
Mompesson November 1666
It turns out that the residents of Eyam are even more awesome because they are like
superheroes in more ways than just their self sacrifice!!!
In December 2000, researches from the National cancer institute in Maryland, USA,
analysed DNA Samples from one hundred residents in Eyam. These people were selected
based upon the fact that family should be traceable back to the seventeenth century
when the village was struck by bubonic plague.

3. Their results found that there was a greater than average proportion of the villagers
carried a genetic mutation referred to as "CCR5-Delta 32" or "Delta 32''. The mutation
gives immunity to bubonic plague.
As Eyam is a small village, almost everyone was exposed to the plague. The people who
were not carrying the mutation would almost certainly die. Those who survived were
carrying the mutation, they would live on to produce children, who in turn, would also be
carrying the mutation. 300 years later, the village still has a higher proportion than
average of the mutation. The research sparked enormous interest, not least because it is
known that the Delta 32 mutation, if inherited from both parents, gives immunity to HIV
/ AIDS.
For those few who think to that Eyam is not comparable to the current situation as
they had the plague and we have a virus - I think you are missing the whole point of this
story - these people isolated themselves to prevent the spread and save others,
knowing & accepting they would die.
A few things to take away from this - Firstly UK death rate is not as high as it could be
because of the forewarnings from other countries in order to prepare. If UK had been hit
first or no one realised what was going on & thought it was just the flu, this could have
been far worse. Eyam did not have this courtesy.
Secondly people are far healthier now with our improved diets, vaccines, healthier living
conditions, etc which in turn helps us have stronger immune systems, than our ancestors
back in the 17th century. The fact they were using vinegar as medicine gives you some
idea that we may have come along a bit since then & are perhaps a little more prepared
for things like corona. Not only that but it appears some of our ancestors were epic and
developed genes which are protecting some of us in modern times from other illnesses -
go Great, Great, Great Grandma!
Thirdly we have medical support such IV drips, oxygen tanks and ventilators not to
mention countless hospitals, ambulances and trained staff which inevitably save lives
which otherwise would have been lost. The UK back in 1666 didn’t have the NHS.
Fourthly - we have far more people on the planet now than they did. Losing 1 person in
10,000 may not seem much to us in today’s age because as of April 2nd 2020 there are
67,798,540 people in the UK alone. We can’t find census data for 1666 (probably also
affected by the great fires
If this virus had hit during the same era one could expect the death rate to be probably
very comparable to the plague and other illnesses which killed many many, such as
smallpox, rubella, mumps, measles. Probably not quite as high but these were killers
which without modern medicine would probably still claim many lives today.

4. Yes - COVID has not, to date, hit as high a death rate as the plague but that’s probably
because we understand it & know how to stop or at least slow it - they didn’t and as
such the plague killed many because they had no medical knowledge of these things. I’m
sure if everyone had isolated for 4 months back then it would have been a different
outcome for them that would have barely made the history books.
If we had no forewarning or medical knowledge from studying other viruses I’m
guessing our current death rate would be far greater too.
But - let’s not forget that we are still in the early stages of Covid. It’s been around barely
4 months and we are already experiencing a faster rate of deaths than from other
illnesses which gives it the potential to be a real problem if we don’t take it seriously and
act fast. Who is to say that 4 months down the line this is not a whole other story and we
have lost many many more people.
Currently we are only slowing the spread whilst trying to find a cure. Until we find a cure
there is still a high chance that this could kill many people as we don’t know the long
term effects. Might turn out that actually it’s done damage which renders us vulnerable
to something else - we simply don’t know.
The plague spread fast because people weren’t isolating thus people died faster. If 10
out of 350 die in a week they notice. If it had been over a year they may have assumed it
was something else. If we ignore isolation rules Covid will also spread like wildfire and
more people will die because the hospitals won’t be able to cope with the surge.
Currently they are saving a lot of lives & adding to the survivor figures instead of the
death toll - hence the whole “stay home” campaign (as per my other answer). This is not
just something the Government thought up for fun or to stop the spread but also to
reduce the risk of people being in accidents which are avoidable if they stay in. More
people out means more chance of accidents = more chance of needing hospital
treatment and the hospitals are already stretched trying to keep save Corona victims.
Trust me - our Government does not willingly give out money to cover lost wages,
release serving prisoners and close schools for the fun of it. They are risking our country
being run into the ground to save lives because we can rebuild the country but we can’t
resurrect the dead.
We don’t even know if you can be infected twice or anything yet, as it’s constantly
mutating - so to those commenting that Eyam is not comparable to COVID - let’s revisit
this in a years time when hopefully that becomes a fact and then I can agree with you.
Stay safe everyone.
Humantalents International