Is the Coronavirus the New Black Plague?

An examination of 2,500 years of epidemics

Image by the CDC on Unsplash

The coronavirus (COVID-19) has spread around the globe, stirring worries in every country that a global pandemic is on the horizon. As I write this, over 3,250 deaths have been reported, with 95,000 reported cases worldwide.

Yes, it’s scary. In fact, the U.S. House of Representatives just approved $8.3 billion of emergency aid to respond to the spreading virus, signaling a belief that the exponential growth of the disease is possible, if not immediately imminent.

It begs the question: is this our civilization’s Black Plague?

Looking at the history of epidemics offers a unique perspective on the coronavirus. Let’s take a look at the numbers:

• Up to 200 million people died in Europe, Asia, and North Africa between 1331–1353 BC due to the bubonic plague.
• Up to 10 million people died in the Antonine Plague of Rome.
• 2 to 5 million people died in the Justinian Plague of 541 AD.
• Over 2 million people died in Iran during the 1772 Persian Plague.
• The influenza outbreak of 1918 killed somewhere between 50 million and 100 million people.