101 years ago, in mid-June, 1919, Cootamundra thought it had seen the last of the Spanish Flu pandemic.
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People had stopped wearing masks and distancing at church services, school classes were set to resume, and the "Influenza Committee" held a wind-up meeting.
"It seemed the flu menace had been vanquished," according to a history of Cootamundra, Past Imperfect, by the late Herald journalist Patricia Caskie.
Then a Parker Street woman, Lilian Sharman, died on June 19.
"Mrs Sharman's death caused a hasty reconvening of the Pandemic Committee," Caskie's book reports.
"The district hospital's isolation block was utilised during the second outbreak.
"The dead woman's sister, Mrs Fraser, was moved into the block on June 21, with Nurse Preston in attendance.
"August Resch and Miss Jessie French were also diagnosed as having contracted the flu.
"By June 25 the list of patients included Miss Vala de Puce, Miss Eileen McGarvie, Jack Baker, Mrs James Spicer of Jugiong Road, Mrs Bob Hennessy, Mrs Fraser, returned soldier Allen, Misses Nellie and Louie Spicer - and three days later there were three more.
"An emergency kitchen re-opened under the management of Miss Johnston of the District School staff."
By mid-July, there were just four cases in isolation, but on July 18, a 21-year-old woman, Mrs Priscilla Tuck, died and there was another death on July 24, that of Mary Jane Bloomfield, who died in her Thompson Street home.
However the situation improved rapidly after that, and by August 22 the last patient had left the isolation block and the town was declared "clean".
Surrounding towns Stockinbingal, Wallendbeen and Bethungra did not fare so well, and the last district flu sufferer named in the Herald was Alex McLean of Bethungra, who was admitted to the hospital in late October.
The first death occurred on April 17, that of Frederick Evans, a 30-year-old returned soldier who had been gassed during World War 1. Cootamundra had low mortality, considering the virus killed 10,000, mainly in NSW. This was largely due to the town's early establishment of an "Influenza Epidemic Committee" on February 10.