The SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic triggers antagonistic reactions, between those who consider this to be a benign infection and those who classify it as a severe one, some who find the measures excessive and some that believe them to be insufficient. This infection is usually asymptomatic or mild, and only rarely is severe or critical, with lethality rates that are two to three times those of the seasonal flu. Nevertheless, the number of patients in need of admission to the hospital and of intensive care is variable from region to region, and might overwhelm the health system. Scientific evidence supporting the mitigation measures is scarce, and control groups inexistent, with data that shed doubt on real life effectiveness of lockdowns, contact tracing, disinfection of surfaces, objects and hands, school closures and mask use, on reducing the number of new cases. Interventions put in place to strengthen the hospital system might be insufficient and, in Portugal, there are no defined recommendations to avoid unbeneficial admissions to Intensive Care Units. A monitoring system to analyze the hospital system’s capacity and to adjust it to real time needs would be paramount, not only for the present pandemic, but also for future similar situations.

The current COVID-19 pandemic brought to mind the great influenza pandemic of 1918-19. It was known as “Spanish Flu” and in Portugal as “Pneumónica”, and it was the only recent one that can be compared in terms of the disruptive effects caused. There are risks in the comparison between a phenomenon dated in time, such as the first, and another that is still unfolding, with unpredictable effects. However, it is assumed that it is useful to proceed now with a comparison between both pandemics, which allows to detect similarities and differences between them and the contexts in which they occurred.

A summary description of all actions and interventions that were necessary to prepare the response of the Infectious Diseases Service of the Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra to the COVID-19 pandemic, in the containment phase, was carried out. The physical structure of the Service was completely readjusted, and the teams had to change their procedures profoundly. Currently, in the mitigation phase, the response of our Hospital was centralized at the Hospital Geral, which is a hospital dedicated to COVID-19 patients.

SARS CoV-2 (systemic acute respiratory syndrome - virus 2) pandemic spread around the world at an unusual rate. In some countries, it has caused serious and simultaneous infections, in such a large number that several health systems disrupted. There are more doubts than certainties about its pathophysiology and treatment, but it is already clear that it is a systemic disease, which is initiated more often by respiratory symptoms No etiological treatment is known. Supportive treatment in the most severe cases is less effective than expected, requiring different strategies than we knew so far. The most effective attitudes so far are those that were recommended in the middle ages: social distancing, preven- tion of contacts and confinement. The pandemic makes humanity vulnerable as a whole, "justifies" massive restrictions on circulation and freedoms, precipitates an economic crisis of unknown proportions. No one knows what will happen in the future, to the survivors and to the possibility of recirculation of the virus. It is time to reflect the human condition and human relations. Society organization will change, and we will be protagonists.