The 1918 flu pandemic aslo known as the spanish flu is one of the deadlest pandemics in the history. Its rates in ifected people were way more than 100 milion of people and the death ones were more than 1 million. The main differnecebetween this pandemic and the Covid-19 one is that the Covid-19 mainly affects older people and the youngest are only carriers (In most of the cases).
One similar thing between these two pandemic is the way they spread. Being this wehn an infected person sneezes or coughs, the virus can spread to people close to each other.
The way how America responded to the 1918 pandemic is not so different as how It is responding now with the Covid-19.They closed all the companies and places that weren't really necessarie, keeping open only groceries stores and only going out to these ones with masks.
The rates are very similiar, the response and spread too. So we can say that this pandemics are also the same case and the the way to prevent them is so important, after all the world suvived taking all this preventions so it's probably that it will be the same with the Covid-19.