The Davos Agenda 2021

COVID-19 and geopolitics – 5 lessons from past pandemics

A doctor collects a swab sample from a man to be tested for the coronavirus disease against a mural depicting solidarity among healthcare workers.

Have we learnt anything? Image: REUTERS/Lim Huey Teng

Harry Kretchmer
Senior Writer, Formative Content
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Death toll history of pandemics
History is full of deadly pandemics, many of which have shaped societies and economies. Image: Visual Capitalist
a chart showing the death toll from different influenza pandemics
The Spanish flu (1918-20) further rocked a world devastated by war. Image: Our World in Data
An old news paper cu out encouraging people to take up the nursing profession
The pandemic of 1918 offered new opportunities for some Americans as healthcare grew. Image: CDC
an etching showing the dance of death, a common image at the time of the black death
A common image at the time of the Black Death was the Dance of Death, or Danse Macabre. Image: Wikicommons / Public Domain Website
Mask-wearing women hold stretchers near ambulances during the Spanish Flu pandemic in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. in October 1918. Library of Congress/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC2U5G9ADB3Q
The Spanish Flu (1918-20) is estimated to have killed around 50 million people. Image: via REUTERS
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The Davos Agenda 2021Pandemic Preparedness and ResponseCOVID-19Geopolitics
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