On Dec. 10, 1918, following another increase in influenza cases among children, the Los Angeles Board of Education ordered all public schools closed until further notice.

On December 2, the Health Commissioner and the Influenza Advisory Committee asked City Council members to pass an ordinance lifting the ban effective Monday, December 2 and to include provisions for the mandatory home isolation of influenza and pneumonia cases. The Council voted unanimously to lift the closure order.

In the end, Los Angeles experienced a lower epidemic death rate than many other American cities: 494 deaths per 100,000 people. By contrast, San Francisco – which acted slowly and which relied heavily on the purported protection of gauze face masks to stop the spread of influenza – had an excess death rate of 673 per 100,000.