Oct. 18, 1918: Spanish flu hits Edmonton
The Spanish influenza epidemic forced the closing of all Edmonton schools, churches, theatres and other public gathering places until further notice.
The drastic order was passed by the city’s board of health to help prevent the virus from spreading. There had already been 10 cases of flu in Edmonton.
The board declared it had no option, saying the duration of the order would depend on the spread of the disease, dubbed Spanish flu because Spain was the first country to officially report symptoms. If there was no increase in the number of cases within a week, the board would discuss revoking the order.
The medical health officer declared that all patients with influenza, whether mild cases or not, would be placed under quarantine regulations. A special committee was appointed to find two city buildings, one on the south side and one on the north, to accommodate those who were ill.
Business hours in stores and offices were restricted. The Journal printed a notice for flu-wary readers to cut out and paste to their front doors or windows that read: “We do not wish any visitors.”
In late October, a public health order went into effect requiring all Albertans to wear masks when they left their homes, “except when it is necessary to partially remove the mask for the purpose of eating.”
Despite those measures, the flu hit Edmonton like a knockout punch. During the last two weeks of October, 337 patients were treated in city hospitals and 1,926 others treated at home. Twelve people had died by Oct. 26.
Between October 1918 and May 1919, more than 600 people in Edmonton died of influenza and its complications.
“One of the scary things about the 1918 pandemic was that it was young, otherwise healthy, S adults in their 20s, 30s and 40s who were dying,” Dr. Graeme Dowling, Alberta’s chief medical examiner, told the Journal in 2005. “And they were dying very quickly, often within 24 hours of the onset of symptoms.”
The 1918-19 pandemic is “generally regarded as the most deadly disease event in human history,” the World Health Organization said in a recent report. In less than a year, the Spanish flu killed more than 40 million people worldwide.