The Warsaw Ghetto beat an epidemic. Scientists say they know how.


In 1941 it was predicted that the Warsaw Ghetto would be overwhelmed with typhus cases due to the overcrowding of inmates, but instead this "oppressed community" established a series of health measures that largely kept the caseload much lower than expected. Although the community was arguably more behaviorally motivated to implement strict and aggressive measures due to the conditions they were living under, the case study indicates that "sheltering in place, promoting and enforcing hygiene, and practicing social distancing," does matter when containing a pandemic.

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