THE bubonic plague, caused by fleas and spread by rats, decimated Europe toward the end of the Middle Ages (1346 to 1351).

It killed 25 million people or roughly 30 to 60 percent of the population in Europe then, according to the reputable National Geographic. (National Geographic is a non-profit organization that funds conservation and research projects worldwide.)





Bubonic plague, also called the Black Death, spread throughout Europe because there was a lack of communication between nations and there were no medical facilities in that continent then.

A pandemic like the bubonic plague can and will occur in modern times because the world has become a small community; news of a tragedy happening in one country reaches other countries in seconds or minutes.

And because of modern technology, other countries not yet affected can take measures to prevent a pandemic, such as quarantining people coming from the affected country.

Advanced medicine also helps prevent a contagious disease from spreading, as the affected community is immediately isolated.

Take the case of Wuhan, the ground zero of the new coronavirus outbreak.

Of the 2,000 people infected in Wuhan only 56 — or 2.8 percent of the total — have succumbed to the virus temporarily called “2019 – nCov.”

If we were still in the Middle Ages, 1,333 patients of the 2,000 people infected — or two-thirds of the total — would have died; and the number of fatalities would have multiplied exponentially.

But Wuhan has been able to contain the new coronavirus by a total lockdown of the city.

The Chinese government has forbidden anybody to get in or come out of the capital of Hubei province.

(One thing good about an iron-fisted rule like the one in China is that when the government gives an order, its citizens follow without question; compare that with the Taal Volcano eruption where people disobey the government order of a lockdown of some areas in Batangas.)

And the world, in general, has also been able to check the spread of the new coronavirus by quarantining people suspected of having the deadly ailment.

In the Philippines, there have been 11 suspected cases of the disease but so far there has been no death, even with our generally below-par medical facilities.

Why? Because people have been made aware of the deadly ailment through the mass media.

From March to June, 2003, Hong Kong was gripped by fear of the SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, which killed 286 patients of the 1,750 people infected.

Why did SARS disappear? Because of the advent of modern medicine and the temporary isolation of Hong Kong.

So, folks, don’t believe the doomsayers who predict the end of the world because of the coronavirus.

And don’t believe everything you read in social media; most of the reports come from non-experts or ignoramuses who throw in not even two cents worth of their advice or opinion.

You’ll see. The new coronavirus will become old in due time and will die a natural death because of isolation.

As one current Filipino wisecrack has it, “Don’t be so afraid of the coronavirus. It won’t last long because it’s made in China.”

There goes the Filipino’s wry sense of humor again.