How pandemics end and what they leave behind

Two years after the first UK coronavirus lockdown, Laura Spinney reflects on what the years after the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic looked like, and what we might expect in a post-Covid era

On 23 March 2020 - two years ago today - the first Covid lockdown was announced in the UK, upending life for everybody. It marked the start of a new era- one that has not entirely come to an end.

Science writer Laura Spinney says pandemics don't conclude neatly, and that the after-effects can be seen for years to come. While researching her book Pale Rider, a history of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, she read countless pandemic diaries. She tells Hannah Moore that those accounts, as well as public records, paint a rich picture of how that pandemic changed society - and we can already see how Covid-19 has reshaped our world.