Spanish flu deaths were on the rise in late 1918
The Humboldt Times kicked off November 1918 with frontpage coverage of events surrounding World War I as well as the upcoming local elections.
Scattered throughout the newspaper were an array of smaller articles about the evergrowing Spanish influenza pandemic and its effects on Humboldt County.
Many of the flu-related stories in the Humboldt Times back then were about those who had become ill or had died from Spanish influenza or ensuing pneumonia. Mrs. Paul Radick,
O. M. Matsend, Charles Rantala, Fred Eagle, Mary Mariano, Clyde Henry, Mrs. Harry Sutherland and Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Richley and their teenage daughter, Della, were just a few of the people who died in Humboldt County in early November 1918 due to Spanish influenza, according to articles appearing in the Humboldt Times.
The Nov. 3, 1918 Humboldt Times reported: “The large number of deaths is explained by the fact that now there are cases which originated at the outbreak of the epidemic about two weeks ago and (have) drifted into fatal complications such as pneumonia.”
By Nov. 3 of that year, there were more than 1,000 cases of Spanish flu reported in Eureka and some 58 patients being treated at the newly opened Red Cross Hospital. The Humboldt Times also noted that some nurses at Sequoia Hospital and Union Labor Hospital, both
in Eureka as well, were finally recovering enough from the flu to resume their duties. Still, retired and volunteer nurses were being recruited to assist with an increasing need for staffing at all of the area hospitals.
To help in the fight against Spanish influenza, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance on Nov. 4, 1918, making wearing anti-influenza masks mandatory throughout the county. Those discovered not wearing face masks faced a possible $25 fine and 10 days in county jail.