2 years into covid-19, WCCC professor to discuss similarities with 1918 pandemic

At the outset of the covid-19 pandemic, when Tom Soltis spoke with the Tribune-­Review about the similarities to its 1918 pandemic predecessor, he used an adjective that generated some negative feedback.

“When I saw it beginning, I said the similarities were ‘haunting,’ ” said Soltis, a Westmoreland County Community College professor. Nearly two years later, as covid infection numbers jump by tens of thousands across Western Pennsylvania in the wake of holiday gatherings and the spread of the omicron variant, Soltis’ position has not changed.

“The fear, the anxiety, the conflict over the disease, where it came from, how it can be treated, personal issues becoming a part of it,” he said. “It is hauntingly similar to 1918, and, as it’s gone on, those similarities have become even more apparent.”

Soltis will give a talk on those similarities at the Jan. 13 meeting of the American Association of University Women in Murrysville. The presentation, set for 10 a.m. at the Murrysville Community Library’s TechNook area, will focus on lessons learned during the 1918 pandemic and how they can be applied to the covid-19 situation.

He has taught sociology and anthropology at WCCC since 1990, earning the school’s Outstanding Teacher Award in 2001 and 2016. Through the school, and in cooperation with local community partners, Soltis designed a series of events — before the arrival of the novel coronavirus — to commemorate the impact that the 1918 influenza pandemic had in Westmoreland County and the surrounding area. His book, “An Unwelcome Visit from the Spanish Lady,” was released in 2019, shortly before the pandemic arrived.

Back then, the virus arrived locally in autumn 1918, infecting more than a half-million Western Pennsylvanians. It killed more than 50,000 Pennsylvanians, all told.

Some of the public reaction from a century ago mirrors that of today, Soltis said.

“You saw personal attacks against government leaders like the director of the state health department, who was highly criticized during the 1918 pandemic,” Soltis said.

Soltis said the current wave of new infections, owing primarily to yet another variant, may also be an echo of last century’s pandemic.

“By the spring of 1919, such a high percentage of the world population had been exposed that the virus likely mutated into something that was less virulent but better able to spread,” he said. “That could be what led to the decrease in deaths, much like what we’re seeing people say now about the omicron variant.”

There is no registration required to attend the presentation. Masks will be required.

The library is at 4130 Sardis Road in Murrysville. For more, visit Murrysville-PA.aauw.net or email MurrysvilleAAUW@gmail.com.