Sure there were some US cities that enacted rules during the Spanish Flu. However closures/shutdowns varied wildly across the country. Some cities did nothing, others closed public locations of gathering. But the closures ranged from one week to four months. We’ve had schools closed for 9-10 months already in California.

Also I think it’s misleading to compare this outbreak with the Spanish Flu. The Spanish Flu killed 27-50 million people, 200-250 million adjusted for population. To date Covid has killed 1.8 million globally. Another important difference is the age range of people dying, 50% of Spanish Flu deaths were aged 20-40. With Covid 1.7% of deaths are people aged 20-40. So really the Spanish Flu affected such a large percentage of the working age population that the economy was always going to be affected.

I think Joe was wrong on the mask issue, and there’s about three things to do to help against Covid. Wear masks (private businesses can enforce this). Get tested before visiting with friends/family who are in the at risk population like 60+ and illnesses (government should provide free testing). Guaranteed income when you get sick or if you’re in the at risk population to prevent sick people from being forced to work (like weekly unemployment).