amy: frank snowden, have to got a break. want to ask you about smallpox, about haiti, about native americans.. frank snonowden, professor emeritus of history, medidicinet yale university and author of the book "epidemics and society: from the black death to the present." he is speaking to us from ththe lockdown in rome, italy. stay with us. ♪ [music break] amy: marcella bella. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the e quarante report. we a are spending the e hour wih profesessor frank snowdeden, profesessor emeritus of historyf medicine at yale university and author of the book "epidemics and society: from the black death to the present." he has devoted his life to looking at epidemics and teaching thousands of students. he is now in rome, italy, where he has been for months, coincidentally, with her for another project -- went there for another projecect i got caut in the lockdown, got covid-19, has recovered from that and we are like enough to have him as our guest for the hour. professor snowden, take us to hispanio

>> frank snowden: i have seen parts of the movie; other parts have changed. the science is very different, but yes the plot is similar. >> wertheim: this semester, while on a research trip in rome, the professor came into contact with his subject matter, quite literally. he contracted covid-19 and was quarantined. he couldn't help but notice that the methods used today to contain the virus were all too familiar-- from the bubonic plague of the 1300s to the cholera pandemic of the 1800s. >> snowden: our public health methods were built on the plague-- precedents. and so they had quarantine. they had social distancing. they had-lockdowns. doctors actually wore p.p.e. and what they had was a mask. we know about that. theirs was differently shaped. it had a long beak. and they put sweet-smelling herbs in it to keep the foul odors away. but in addition, they carried a long rod or verger and the doctor would physically keep people at a distance. >> wertheim: he says there's comfort in history; we've been here before. and the real source of optimism might come from

. >> frank snowden is a history professor at yale specializing in pandemics through the ages. >> there'so aspect of us as humans that is not touched. ♪ amazing grace >> while at times bringing out the best in us. >> it's one -- >> the virus has also brought out the worst. >> i've just come out of the supermarket. i'm a critical care nurse. i've just finished 14 hours of work. i just wanted to get some stuff for the next 48 hours. and those people -- people were just stripping the shelves of basic foods. >> a lot of people are really feeling the panic now. you go to the supermarkets and there are, you know, canned goods are all gone. >> on behalf of american truckers, slow down, people. just get enough for a few days for your family. you don't have to load up on all of this stuff. you're making our jobs harder. >> things are pretty desperate. you know, the hospital, we're trying to save lives. we're all just doing what we can to save people's loved ones. and i want -- i want you to see me like this because i want people to realize how serious it is. you need to stay indoors and you need t