I see these right wing protests against what seen like basic public health measures and I wonder if this was also true in 1918-1919 under the banner of supposed extinguishing liberties?
EDIT: Also interested in any history related to other measures like social distancing and lockdowns.
I can't speak to the American context but I can say a few words about Canada (Specifically in Regina, Saskatchewan).
In Regina, there really was not that much of a reaction against social distancing measures (and masks) because the end of the war interrupted what those that had been in place. Following 11 November, Canadians were war weary and ready to celebrate an end to war. Regina had massive celebrations and, in the following weeks, Spanish Flu sped through the community leading to 2500 deaths in a couple of weeks.^(1) Victory gave people a sense of hope and newspaper commentators even speculated that “the only effect this [peace] celebration is going to have on the influenza situation is to improve it.”^(2)
So in a sense there was a reaction, but it wasn't a protest as much as it was a mutual agreement to disregard measures. Regina closed down commerce on October 16, 1918 and Churches followed on October 17, 1918. On November 11th, the day these things broke down, measures had only been in place for about three weeks. While stores and Churches remained closed until November 24th, advertisements in newspapers show that many still seemed to operating and offering sales to entice customers to shop.^(3) As far as masks are concerned, the Regina Morning Leader does not have any letters to the editor that complained about directives to wear masks and no newspaper stories make mention of protests, left or right wing