Some things change little over the centuries. From 2020 onwards it may have been called “social distancing” or “baby elephant”, but in fact the practice of self-isolation as a result of Corona didn’t mean much other than the good old quarantine. Even during the plague and later the Spanish flu, keeping your distance as a precaution was sometimes the best medicine. What else looks familiar? A bowl of barley gruel is as wholesome a food for the sick bed today as it was at the end of the 14th century when it appeared in the manuscript Tacinum Santatis was captured visually. And it’s not just today that vaccination morale is declining, but also with smallpox, namely as soon as the most acute danger seemed to have been averted.
