Covid and flu deaths roughly equal.

80,000 died of the flu over last fall and winter but we didn’t shut the economy down for that. In roughly the same four month period of spring 80,000 have died of Covid but we did shut the economy down for this. Covid is no more deadly than the flu so why the panic? Answer is politics. Democrats found a way to destroy Trumps economy.



NEW YORK — An estimated 80,000 Americans died of flu and its complications last winter— the disease’s highest death toll in at least four decades.

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Robert Redfield, revealed the total in an interview Tuesday night with The Associated Press.

Flu experts knew it was a very bad season, but at least one found size of the estimate surprising.






https://www.statnews.com/2018/09/26/cdc-us-flu-deaths-winter/

 

And again, you are comparing a known seasonal illness with an unknown virus.

We know the long term impact of the seasonal flu. We know about how long it's going to last. We have allocated
medical supplies and hospital time to fighting it.

We don't know the long term impacts of Covid (survivors are showing kidney damage and blood clotting problems).
We don't if Covid is going to be seasonal (Brazil is having a spike, despite the fact they are in the middle of a warm summer season).

And the added problem is that if this is very bad flu season, it means that hospitals and medical personnel were already
stressed, and now having the impact of Covid on top of that causes real concern for overtaxing hospitals
in hot spots.

 

The difference is that it's a new virus with no immunity within the population and our health services would have been insufficient to handle the influx of severe cases. Keep in mind that the number of deaths are roughly equal between flu and Covid....but we were practicing extreme social distancing with Covid. We could have had a much higher death count if things were apples to apples.

That said...I think we have a plan and a responsibility to get back to normal.

 

Not according to Johns Hopkins which said that as of MARCH 26,2020 only 1,100 had died from the flu in the 2019-20 flu season!!!

 

The initial fear was lack of proper equipment in hospitals an issue which has been addressed so now we have an economy shut down over a virus no worse that last years flu

 

The OP uses the CDC as a source and the Covid numbers also come from the CDC so it’s apples to apples to apples

 

How many would have died from Covid-19 without the preventative measures? Many times more. It's a really stupid argument.

 

Do you know how many people would have died if there was no shut-down?
Again, what part of "unknown virus" are you having problems with?

 

States and countries like Sweden that didn’t shut down had similar infection rates as those that did so apparently social distancing alone did the trick

 

Last year CDC numbers for flu deaths were ~34,000. Those are preliminary, but not close to the 80,000 claim. ~34,000 for the past year vs ~80,000 for the past few months. No year of flu deaths for at least the past century has gotten close to the number of COVID deaths we have so far this year. Drop the fake news. Address reality.

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/index.html

 

Sweden had higher death rates AND more economic contraction than their neighbors.

 

Sweden’s hospitals were not overwhelmed and their economy remained healthy the same as our states that didn’t shut down

 

They had more deaths and their economy is contracting more compared to their neighbors.

 

Again, you are claiming psychic powers using current numbers.
At the time things were shut down, the virus was an unknown. We still don't know what is going to happen when we reopen
the economy. We have a good indication from the infection rate in Brazil, that Covid may not be seasonal, which means the yearly total could be far higher than the common flu. We won't know till December.

 

The economic shutdown was originally to flatten the curve so as not to have people dying in hospital hallways. Sweden didn’t shut down and their hospitals were not overwhelmed.
This threads about our recent flu being just as deadly as Covid and we didn’t shut down the economy for that so if you want to discuss something besides that there are other threads.

 

No psychic powers needed in the beginning of the flu season that had people dying at a similar rate as Covid did but the response was far different.

 

And you always forget that Covid is an international illness. Unlike the flu, the Southern Hemisphere and Northern Hemisphere are both experiencing spikes at the same time, unlike the common flu.

 

No they didn't.

Your article was from September 2018 and so was referring to the 2017/2018 flu season. The 80,000 was also an early estimate and it was adjusted down by the CDC following further study (https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/2017-2018.htm). It was still especially high that year, largely because a particular prolific strain was involved and the vaccine not especially effective. Put simply, lots of measures were put in place (as they are every year) but they weren't very effective that year.

Given that the US has had so many deaths from COVID-19 so far and despite the very restrictive measures to limit, it strongly suggests to me that it is much more serious than even the worst influenza season of recent years.

 

Fear of the unknown is easily exploited.

 

They had higher death counts than their neighbors. This thread's claim that our recent flu is just as deadly as COVID is based on a false claim that I've already debunked and you've failed to address. I've tried discussing the claims in the OP. Care to join me?

 

Sweden has better overall health than the US. Less obesity and fewer people with diabetes and high blood-pressure. Their hospitalization rate reflects that.

It would be a mistake to directly compare the two given the progression of this virus.

 

Other countries can do as they please. In America the recent flu was more deadly than Covid but we didn’t shut the economy down for that

 

The CDC says the OP is wrong, as has already been proven.

 

This false claim has been disproven multiple times. No, the recent flu was not more deadly than COVID.