Uploaded July 2024 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
In all of our modern human history, nothing shook us quite like the 2020 COVID lockdowns. It seems like forever ago already, but try to remember just how weird it all was. One day we were going around touching doors and politely coughing on each other, the next you can’t get a sandwich at a deli. Flights were grounded, trailers were shipped to hospitals just to handle the dead bodies, and mandatory quarantines brought out the absolute best and worst in humans. We still haven’t recovered from it.
But keep in mind the name of the virus: COVID-19. That’s short for “coronavirus disease 2019”. This was not our first brush with the bug, which is caused by the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) virus. It was by far the deadliest, with over 7 million deaths and counting, but it was just a strain of a pathogen that the world had been dealing with since around 2002. Much like you download the newest iOS on your phones, the SARS virus has been installing its own updates over the last two decades.
The reason you may not have remembered them very well is most likely the passing of time, and the way the news cycles constantly refresh. But make no mistake: these could have very well taken some random bad turns, and thrown the world into chaos just like COVID-19 did.
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Love content? Check out Simon's other YouTube Channels:
Geographics: youtube.com/channel/UCHKRfxkMTqiiv4pF99qGKIw
TopTenz: youtube.com/user/toptenznet
Eric Links:
Free Cosmic Horror Ebook: dl.bookfunnel.com/1cw07o2uyb
Storyrant: youtube.com/@UC6Sk2h2WsYMxnGERAH_FbGg
OEI analog horror experiment: youtube.com/@UCsz5l0hY67TGoJR0CZiWVnA
Karl's Socials:
Fact Fiend: youtube.com @FactFiend
Wiki Weekends: youtube.com @wikiweekends
Untitled Side Channel: youtube.com @untitledsidechannel
Twitter: twitter.com/KarlSmallwood
Further Reading:
cnn.com/2020/01/24/asia/china-sars-coronavirus-intl-hnk/index.html
cnbc.com/2020/02/14/hong-kong-hotel-hosted-super-spreader-in-the-2003-sars-outbreak.html
archives.gov.on.ca/en/e_records/sars/report/v2-pdf/Vol2Chp3i.pdf
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7106206
interestingengineering.com/health/the-2003-sars-outbreak-a-timeline
reuters.com/article/idUSKBN1ZL133
taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2003/04/25/0000203407
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9603420
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK92467
In all of our modern human history, nothing shook us quite like the 2020 COVID lockdowns. It seems like forever ago already, but try to remember just how weird it all was. One day we were going around touching doors and politely coughing on each other, the next you can’t get a sandwich at a deli. Flights were grounded, trailers were shipped to hospitals just to handle the dead bodies, and mandatory quarantines brought out the absolute best and worst in humans. We still haven’t recovered from it.
But keep in mind the name of the virus: COVID-19. That’s short for “coronavirus disease 2019”. This was not our first brush with the bug, which is caused by the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) virus. It was by far the deadliest, with over 7 million deaths and counting, but it was just a strain of a pathogen that the world had been dealing with since around 2002. Much like you download the newest iOS on your phones, the SARS virus has been installing its own updates over the last two decades.
The reason you may not have remembered them very well is most likely the passing of time, and the way the news cycles constantly refresh. But make no mistake: these could have very well taken some random bad turns, and thrown the world into chaos just like COVID-19 did.
→ Subscribe for new videos at least twice a week!
youtube.com/c/biographics?sub_confirmation=1
Love content? Check out Simon's other YouTube Channels:
Geographics: youtube.com/channel/UCHKRfxkMTqiiv4pF99qGKIw
TopTenz: youtube.com/user/toptenznet
Eric Links:
Free Cosmic Horror Ebook: dl.bookfunnel.com/1cw07o2uyb
Storyrant: youtube.com/@UC6Sk2h2WsYMxnGERAH_FbGg
OEI analog horror experiment: youtube.com/@UCsz5l0hY67TGoJR0CZiWVnA
Karl's Socials:
Fact Fiend: youtube.com @FactFiend
Wiki Weekends: youtube.com @wikiweekends
Untitled Side Channel: youtube.com @untitledsidechannel
Twitter: twitter.com/KarlSmallwood
Further Reading:
cnn.com/2020/01/24/asia/china-sars-coronavirus-intl-hnk/index.html
cnbc.com/2020/02/14/hong-kong-hotel-hosted-super-spreader-in-the-2003-sars-outbreak.html
archives.gov.on.ca/en/e_records/sars/report/v2-pdf/Vol2Chp3i.pdf
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7106206
interestingengineering.com/health/the-2003-sars-outbreak-a-timeline
reuters.com/article/idUSKBN1ZL133
taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2003/04/25/0000203407
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9603420
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK92467
