Bendigo archives reveal 1870s parallels with COVID-19 pandemic

Tom O'Callaghan
Updated February 4 2021 - 8:53pm, first published 1:55pm
A health officer report including the name of one of the children who died from small pox (listed here as variola) in Long Gully during the outbreak. Picture: PUBLIC RECORDS OFFICE, CITY OF SANDHURST INWARD CORRESPONDENCE COLLECTION
A health officer report including the name of one of the children who died from small pox (listed here as variola) in Long Gully during the outbreak. Picture: PUBLIC RECORDS OFFICE, CITY OF SANDHURST INWARD CORRESPONDENCE COLLECTION

HEALTH authorities' responses to a smallpox outbreak nearly 150 years ago bear some striking resemblances to the COVID-19 epidemic, historians pouring through Bendigo records say.

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Tom O'Callaghan

Tom O'Callaghan

Journalist

I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.

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