COVID 19: It’s women not white men in Whitehall who will save us
Women responding to the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic were the “heroes on the home front”, following a botched response by the British government. A hundred years later the same pattern is emerging.
In September 1918, David Lloyd George visited Manchester after being given the keys to the city. As he toured around he was greeted by hordes of loyal people, cheering and clapping his arrival. It was a grey, rainy day, and after several hours of riding an open topped bus, Lloyd George developed a chill. He was taken to his rooms at Manchester City Hall, and it swiftly became evident he had flu. For days his life hovered in the balance.
Publicly, the seriousness of Lloyd George’s illness was played down. The war in France was still raging and they didn’t want the Germans to know the British Prime Minister had potentially fatal flu. During this second deadly wave of the Spanish Flu, the war effort was put above all else. The government told British workers it was their patriotic duty to carry on as usual. So they got on the omnibuses and tubes, went into munitions factories, and marched off to the frontline as usual, taking the deadly disease with them.
At this point in the pandemic, people were already dying in huge numbers. According to Dr Mark Honigsbaum, medical historian and author of The Pandemic Century:
“It was the closing months of the war, a lot of people were dying, [so the government thought that] a few flu deaths here and there didn’t make much difference.”
Even when the war ended there was reluctance in Britain to curb social gatherings. Schools remained open and armistice parades on 11 November saw tens of thousands gather on the streets. All this was in stark contrast to the US, where they realised they were dealing with a pandemic like never before. They closed all churches, cinemas and schools — all mass congregations were banned.
It is estimated that between 24 and 100 million people died worldwide of the Spanish Flu, the worst pandemic ever recorded.
In a 2018 interview with BBC History Extra, Catherine Arnold, author of Pandemic: 1918 reassuringly said: “We are much more prepared today […] they would treat it with the same respect as a terrorist attack.” I wonder if she feels the same two years later?
There has been widespread criticism of the British Government’s response to COVID 19. It’s been hesitant, with muddled communications, and an obvious desire to put profit before people. It seems we have learned little.
As in 1918, we seem to be struggling with our medical response too, with a vaccine still far away and hospitals breaking under the pressure. Laura Spinney, British science journalist and author of Pale Rider, told BBC History Extra that in 1918, doctors had little in their medicine cabinet to help patients. It was nurses who held the balance between life and death, by keeping the sick warm and hydrated. Many of this all woman workforce would end up dying themselves.
While nursing today is a more mixed gendered workforce, 9 out of 10 are women, with large numbers from black, asian and minority ethnic communities. Once again they are putting themselves and their health on the frontline, some experiencing racially motivated abuse while doing so.
Our teaching workforce is made up of 70% women. They are the ones trying to make sense of the government’s bungled response to school closures, and implement procedures with little central guidance. On Monday, it will be a woman head teacher at my daughter’s school who will open the gates to our community’s most vulnerable children; a largely female workforce will feed them, and a woman who will attend to their pastoral care.
There has been no response from Johnson or any of his cabinet about what to do with people inside communities, an increasing number now stuck in isolation. Mutual aid groups are a grassroots initiative that sprung up to meet this gaping hole in provision. Figures don’t exist on how many women are behind these groups, but it was a woman who started my neighbourhood mutual aid group. When I had to isolate and put out a call for help, it was all women who responded. (A special mention here for Harriet from L&T Removals in Walthamstow who is putting their vans to use delivering supplies to older and other vulnerable members of our community.)
Gratitude is owed to all low-paid workers in supermarkets and those out on deliveries, helping to keep the nation fed. It should be note however that women dominate this workforce in numbers, and have long battled for their contribution to be recognised. Women workers at Asda and Tescos recently won landmark ruling in equal pay claims, while the fight for female equality continues at Morrisons.
If any good can come out of this crisis it is a recognition that it’s not always those in power who will save us, but the ordinary people around us, many of whom are women. Our nurses, cleaners, retail and care workers are always the least valued and worst paid. But they are the unsung heroes, and COVID 19 demands we treat them with more respect.
