The COVID-19 pandemic memory project : transforming a challenge into an opportunity

Abstract

COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a recently discovered coronavirus, namely SARS-CoV-2. Coronaviruses are known to cause respiratory infections, ranging from mild to severe, in humans. COVID-19 is claimed to have emerged in December 2019 and has evolved to become a life-threatening global pandemic.1 In order to tackle the global threat, governments worldwide reverted to the traditional measures of quarantine, cordon sanitaire, and other social distancing practices. Also, archivists worldwide rushed to their holdings to remind the media and the public that such measures are in no way innovative. Most date back to 14th-century Europe and earlier. By the 19th century, the spread of epidemic diseases emerged as a problem that had to be overcome through coordinated measures on an international level. This need to approach the pandemic by joining forces was felt within the respective professions, which are often too specialised, fragmented or localised, to come up with well-studied responses, especially in tragic or urgent situations.