Stepping Off a Bus into An Epidemic
In a story of the past repeating itself, a survivor of the 2009 swine flu pandemic in Mexico recalls events eerily similar to today’s coronavirus crisis
—
What happens when a flu epidemic hits a city of 20 million people, and authorities fear a pandemic?
It is Sunday, April 29, 2009. Before I take my second step off the bus in Mexico City inbound from Acapulco, a waiting police officer hands me a face mask. Before I can decide whether to put it on (since only 20% of the people are wearing them), I accidentally drop it on the floor of a nearby subway station. Should I strap
