Reporting On An Epidemic

It’s 120 years to the day that my great grandfather, Patrick Cosgrove died. When the above article was published he was one of the 462 patients suffering from smallpox in Belvidere Hospital, Glasgow. He had been taken there when his condition became too serious to remain in the receiving house that he first attended.

Reading more about the smallpox epidemic shows parallels with our current situation. In 1901 the disease was taking hold in Glasgow but there was optimism that it would be short lived and that plans for the spring could go ahead.

Looking back to the start of the first lockdown in Scotland in March 2020 who would ever have thought that a year down the line we’d still be living like this with plans for a normal summer of 2021 looking increasingly unlikely.

Of course there are always those who try to make a quick buck out of a terrible situation.

While the death toll may have been high for some it was mainly just an inconvenience. I see similar sentiments on social media today.

Vaccination was available and the newspapers reported on the crowds who took up the offer.

My great grandfather had not been vaccinated. My mother tells me that it was for financial reasons. He died leaving a widow and baby daughter. Another statistic to be reported in the paper.