On 28 December, Dr Leon Litvack, Principal Editor of the Dickens Letters Project, commented on his discovery of a letter of August 1856, in which Charles Dickens, during a stay in France, responds to his doctor’s warning about a diphtheria epidemic that put his family at risk. The similarities to the current COVID pandemic are striking.

Doctor warned Charles Dickens of family diphtheria risk News The Times

Charles Dickens Times article 28 Dec 2020