| THE use of Wonthaggi Town Hall as a vaccination hub has reminded local historians of the time when it served as a hospital during the so-called Spanish influenza epidemic. For some reason, Wonthaggi was one of the hardest hit small towns in the country. On March 27, 1919, the Yass Courier reported: INFLUENZA EPIDEMIC The virulence of the influenza plague when it gets a footing has been exemplified at Wonthaggi, a small town in Victoria, where a large number of cases have occurred. A report from there on Saturday last was as follows: The death toll from influenza has reached 19. Three deaths occurred on Friday morning. A patient in the hospital gave birth it a child which died on Friday, and the mother is in a serious condition. |  Australian Story featured nurse Elizabeth Beard’s account of working in the makeshift hospital in the Wonthaggi Town Hall during the deadly influenza pandemic of 1919. |
And just as now, they were debating whether people should be forced to wear face masks – and whether they actually worked.
The "Evening News " says;—Restrictions that create widespread unemployment and precautions that create antagonistic conditions between the authorities and the people have the effect of defeating themselves, for the simple reason that people tend to evade regulations which they feel to be heavily oppressive and which yet cannot be put into perfect action without their consent.
Take masks for instance. Their actual value as a preventive of infection is a matter of dispute even in medical circles, but there is no doubt as to their bad effect on the aeration of the lungs.
The deadliest epidemic
April 3, 2020 - Exactly 101 years ago, Wonthaggi schools and shops were closed and the town hall set up as a hospital as the town prepared for the deadliest epidemic
The "Evening News " says;—Restrictions that create widespread unemployment and precautions that create antagonistic conditions between the authorities and the people have the effect of defeating themselves, for the simple reason that people tend to evade regulations which they feel to be heavily oppressive and which yet cannot be put into perfect action without their consent.
Take masks for instance. Their actual value as a preventive of infection is a matter of dispute even in medical circles, but there is no doubt as to their bad effect on the aeration of the lungs.
The deadliest epidemic
April 3, 2020 - Exactly 101 years ago, Wonthaggi schools and shops were closed and the town hall set up as a hospital as the town prepared for the deadliest epidemic