Since the spread of the Spanish Flu in 1918, which is labeled by historians as the deadliest pandemic in history, scientists have been studying the life, actions and reactions of viruses and viral DNA. With the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus in January of 2020, many scientists and workers in the medical field were able to further their understanding of a nation’s initial reaction to a pandemic.

The US is facing its worst health crisis in more than 100 years. The COVID-19 pandemic has inflicted unprecedented economic and social disruption this year, with no end in sight. Eight million Americans have fallen ill with the virus, and 220,000 of them did not make it. This means the US has the highest numbers of any nation. And yet cases are still soaring; in fact, they are on track to hit a third peak. Scientists are warning that this peak may be the largest of them all, especially as winter weather will force huge swaths of the country indoors and several holidays loom.

With influenza season peaking throughout the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 63 percent of its staff was furloughed in the wake of the government shutdown. With...