Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul shared a reminder about the history we have in overcoming disease outbreaks from historian David Oshinsky.

From yellow fever to cholera to polio, Americans have a long history of struggling against infectious diseases—and eventually conquering them, writes historian David Oshinsky. https://t.co/n6rOZhEFkF — Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 15, 2020

While some aspects of COVID-19 and the response to it are unprecedented, this is not the first time that the U.S. has had to deal with an infectious disease making the rounds.

“times like this, when anx­i­ety turns so eas­ily to fear, it some-times helps to fo­cus upon an op­ti­mistic vi­sion of the fu­ture. For me, it’s the im­age of a war hero turned pres­i­dent tear­fully thank­ing a self­less re­searcher for help­ing to save the chil­dren.” — Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 15, 2020

Sen. Paul added some commentary of his own regarding the need for Americans to remain courageous in the face of the threat, while not letting fear rule the day.

We can and should practice social distancing and use prudence. Follow the guidelines health officials are recommending. We can help stop the spread of our current virus foe if we work together. But let us not surrender to fear or forget our ability to conquer foes like this. — Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 15, 2020

Wise words.

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