The plague that hit Athens vs. COVID-19

The plague that hit Athens and COVID-19 share a few similarities. When the plague hit Athens, the people panicked, a lot. It is said that they held no regard for the law, nor for behaving honorably. We can see a few people acting like that right now. Fights breaking out over toilet paper, panic buying, and in some cases, even thefts all show the disregard for not only following the law but also for common etiquette. One difference would be that everyone took the plague in Athens very seriously, even to the point of abandoning anyone who had it; many people assumed they were going to die. While there are a lot of people who are acting rational and self-quarantining, there are also a lot of people who are not taking this seriously enough and are still going out in public. I heard a story the other day of a beach in Florida that was filled with people who didn't care about if they spread this epidemic. During the time of the Peloponnesian War, people didn't know a whole lot about germ theory, and while they did have decent self-hygiene, I doubt they knew to wash their hands often when sickness came around, nor to wash their hands before meals either. We know now to wash our hands often, even without an epidemic, and it severely limits the spread of any disease.