Really, however, it is doubtful if this could be called a victory. All that could be said was that the disease seemed to be leaving us as unaccountably as it had come. Our strategy had not changed, but whereas yesterday it had obviously failed, today it seemed triumphant. Indeed one’s chief impression was that the epidemic had called a retreat after reaching all its objectives; it had, so to speak, achieved its purpose.Albert Camus, The Plague