Before thinking that the issues we are confronting today are unique, consider their historical predecessors as described in the Journal. Below I have created a mini “concordance” of things that we are experiencing now keyed to some of their more important analogues in the novel. Small comfort, I know.
* Mass graves? Pits? Today?? See https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/10/nyregion/coronavirus-deaths-hart-island-burial.html
** Compare the exodus from New York City’s wealthiest neighborhoods: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/05/15/upshot/who-left-new-york-coronavirus.html