Schools and shops shut, footy banned — welcome to Tassie 1919 — welcome to Tassie 1919

Spanish flu affected Tasmanians and leaders much like coronavirus, says Wendy Askew

THE COVID-19 pandemic has captured the world’s attention unlike anything we have seen for generations.

But this global health crisis is similar to another from a century ago: the Spanish flu (pneumonic influenza).

The coronavirus death toll is approaching 280,000, while the Spanish flu resulted in an estimated 50 million deaths.

This staggering figure made the Spanish flu the second most devastating pandemic the world had faced, beaten only by the Black Plague in its rate of mortality. An estimated 15,000 Australians died from the Spanish flu, and up to 40 per cent of the population became infected. The death rate of 2.7 per 1000 was one of the lowest, with Australia’s island status and location offering some protection. We are seeing similar protection from the coronavirus now.

In the same way the coronavirus has challenged governments to get the mix of support and restrictions right, the Spanish flu proved a major test for a fledgling federal government less than 20 years after formation of the Commonwealth of Australia.

Quarantine was implemented in October 1918, after influenza was reported in New Zealand and South Africa, with ships entering Australian ports subjected to seven-day quarantine.

Operating like our national cabinet, a national influenza planning conference was held in November 1918. Health ministers, health department heads, the British Medical Association and Federal Government representatives attended, agreeing the Federal Government would take responsibility for enforcing emergency measures in each state and managing maritime and land quarantine.

States took on quarantine stations, emergency hospitals, vaccination depots, ambulance services, medical staff and public awareness campaigns.

An experimental vaccine was developed early. Medical researchers did not know what caused Spanish flu, but produced a vaccine that fought serious bacterial infections likely to cause death.

In Launceston, Albert Hall was used as an inoculation venue in 1919, as it was for meningococcal vaccinations administered by Tasmanian Public Health Services in 2018. This grand building was also used as a disaster relief and shelter site in the 1929 flood.

NSW and Victoria were the first states to officially declare outbreaks of Spanish flu, in January 1919, with Tasmania initially free of the disease. A bigger issue for the island state was the impact of maritime quarantine, disrupting shipping and stranding tourists here and Tasmanians in Victoria. Keeping the state safe and the economy running meant business and medical communities were, at times, at odds with the Tasmanian Government. However, the government insisted it was acting to protect Tasmania from an influenza outbreak.

On March 1, 1919, The Examiner reported the state was well prepared to fight an outbreak should one occur.

“The people can assist greatly at the present stage and, as was stated recently, no trouble to which they can go is too much to keep it out. One rather important matter is taking full advantage of fresh air, which medical authorities state is an enemy of the epidemic,” the report said.

Bruny Island Quarantine Station, built in 1886, housed quarantined Australian soldiers returning in 1919.

The Verulam Quarantine Station, near Carr Villa Cemetery, and other public buildings in Launceston were prepared. Tasmania’s first cases were confirmed at Bruny Island Quarantine Station on April 15, 1919. The patients — a seaman, a steward and a steerage passenger — were on the steamer Oonah, which operated between Sydney and Hobart.

The Oonah seaman died on April 27, the first Spanish flu death in Tasmania. Two quarantine hospital nurses and a hospital orderly were diagnosed in following days.

Tasmania’s time to deal with an outbreak came when Spanish flu was detected at Claremont Isolation Hospital in Hobart on August 16, 1919.

The State Government immediately closed schools, libraries, churches, theatres and public entertainment venues. Football matches, race meetings and outdoor amusements were banned, and only three patrons could be in a hotel for five minutes at a time. Face masks were to be worn on public transport. Within three days, more than 50 cases of Spanish flu had been diagnosed in Tasmania, and the Federal Government declared it an infected state on August 20. Launceston registered its first case the next day. Some businesses closed due to ill staff. Trams were impacted, museum exhibitions were postponed and funerals held at grave sides to avoid indoor contact.

A year after quarantine was implemented, on October 6, 1919, the Spanish flu pandemic was declared over in Tasmania and state restrictions removed.

Tasmania weathered a storm effectively once, and we will do it again.