@Lily O Lady

respond to this, actually, given your comment is so wide-ranging. yes, some who've tested positive might spread the disease around, but the rules keep changing. no more than fifty peeps in a group, says the cdc (but working is okay). no more than 10 peeps, says the gov. of colorado.

mr. wd said he'd seen a headline this mornin' that the CDC might require all amerikans to wear masks (as china required in two provinces), but what sense does that really make, as touching infected surfaces can also spread covid19. on cardboard it lasts 24 hours, see billionaire bezos and amazon making hay while the storm brews...

a checker in walmart scornfully asked mr. wd if our canvas shopping bags had been washed recently. and no, she wasn't wearing latex gloves (handling filthy money all day) nor a mask; go figure (he'd forgotten to point that out). colorado and new mexico have cancelled schools until next year. that's rough: but working's okay for car mnufacturers and amazon supply chain workers?

yes, the US fucked up its response at first, few test kits, masks, gowns, while many nations have re-jiggered oldish cures to at least stop the disease and facilitate healing: china, japan, and cuban doctors, of course. do the hospitals have any treatment meds to offer? i know portable ventilators are scarce.

but from random sites:

First of all, it appears that China has started mass producing an anti-flu drug called Avigan that a Chinese firm licensed from the Japanese creators of the drug.

Chloroquine & Hydroxychloroquine, as well as other 'quines'.

from newsweek:

The drug, called Interferon Alpha-2B Recombinant (IFNrec), is jointly developed by scientists from Cuba and China, where the coronavirus COVID-19 disease outbreak first emerged late last year. Already active in China since January, the Cuban Medical Brigades began deploying to dozens of nations, providing personnel and products such as its new anti-viral drug to battle the disease that has exceeded 400,000 confirmed cases across the globe. As of Tuesday, over 100,000 people have recovered from the infection and more than 18,000 have died.

Cuba first used advanced interferon techniques to treat dengue fever in the 1980s and later found success in using it to combat HIV, human papillomavirus, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and other diseases. The use of Interferon Alpha-2B Recombinant "prevents aggravation and complications in patients reaching that stage that ultimately can result in death," Cuban biotech expert Luis Herrera Martinez said, according to a recent Yale University Press Blog feature written by the University of Glasgow's Helen Yaffe. She called the treatment a potential "wonder drug" against the new coronavirus.

but everyday the front pages on online crporate news are 90% dedicated to Covi-19, and yet the rate of cases is diminishing globally, not increasing. dunno about in the US.

but i'm not taking your meaning here:

No flu has caused such privation since 1918.

by privation i assume you mean deprivation of needed items?
but the spanish flu :

Global cases: 500 million
Global deaths: over 50 million (675,000 in the United States); the death rate was around 2 percent; middle aged people predominantly died in the US.

Q: do you wear a mask and latex gloves when you go out to shop for necessities? our tiny local grocery store's co-owner's wife tested positive, and they kindly put a sign on the door saying so as in: Enter at your own risk. mr. wd doesn't wear a mask or gloves, but by now it might be too late in any event. but fear? gonna die of something someday. a neighbor just stopped by and we agreed we're more afraid of the panic.

#3.1.1

that each of those people is a walking time bomb who could pass it on to a significant number of people who are extremely vulnerable. Enough people to overwhelm hospitals, straining supplies to their breaking point. Not only are a significant number of patients fall ill and die, but their medical care givers are succumbing as well. No flu has caused such privation since 1918.

And we can’t tell who it will kill and who will be merely a carrier of the disease that kills others. What for some is nothing, is a death sentence for others. Age is partly a factor, but teens and children have died. It’s taking out perfectly healthy adults in the prime of life. It has medical people breaking down in tears. So it is scary.

And oddly enough people aren’t really acting that frightened. Sure they’ve bought up all the goddam toilet paper, but then they leave it at home and go galavanting around with their friends.