The virus is not a killer

Flu-related death stats are not moving in a straight line up or down over time.

2010 37,000

2011 12,000

2012 43,000

2013 38,000

2014 51,000

2015 23,000

2016 38,000

2017 61,000

2018 34,000

2019 24,000 to 62,000 (they're still counting)

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/preliminary-in-season-estimates.htm

 

Huh? I never mentioned social distancing.

 

I don't agree that it's flat, but nor is it consistently increasing or decreasing.

 

Everything I told you is easily verifiable should you decide to become interested in reality. You do believe the liars, you just want to shift the burden of proof to those telling the truth and you refuse to investigate any facts they provide you with. I encourage you to actually do your own reading instead of just reading the fringe blogs that support your biases and excuse you from doing any actual research.

 

That's what flat means.

 

I think his point is that we would need to have practiced social distancing in past years to be able to fairly compare the infection and death rates for influenza with those for covid-19.

 

I suppose that's accurate

 

LOL, no, I when the changes year to year are sometimes up and sometimes down, but the changes in either direction are significant.

 

It can be verified that everything you wrote someone claims is a fact. That means nothing to me when those "facts" come from known liars who do not have the best interests of others in mind. They can't. They can't know what's in other people's best interests better than those people. If they think they do, they are much greater threat than any virus.

Those who oppress us for our own good will oppress us without end because they do so with the approval of their own conscience. C.S. Lewis

 

You mentioned annual death rates for the flu that happened "without shutting down." The "shutting down" part is the social distancing. We've had to resort to extreme social distancing/"shutting down" measures just to get the death count for a partial year almost as low as the highest annual death rate we saw for the flu for the past century.

 

That's why we look at the overall trend. Which is roughly flat and has no bearing on this discussion.

 

Yes, and which will continue while people are returning to work and using -- gasp! -- masks and gloves; using sanitizer, and so forth.

 

Ignoring facts because they challenge your religion isn't a rational argument, nor is reason "oppression." I guess willing ignorance is "much greater than any virus."

 

Of course.

 

Look at the years 2010, 2011 and 2012. There are huge fluctuations over those 3 years, at least according to the CDC, sometimes up, sometimes down.

 

Over the last decade? How do you figure that? And what are you calling "flat'?

 

The fact that you are admitting such measure are necessary and that this disease requires measures that we don't typically take for the seasonal flu demonstrates that you agree with me that this is far worse than the seasonal flu, contrary to the claims being made in this thread.

 

Well, what are you doing about it?

Joke.

 

Try drawing a graph. I can teach you how if you want, I guess. The past century of flu deaths does not compare to what we are seeing under COVID. When will you accept this reality?

 

The opposite, actually. We needed to practice social distancing with this virus just to be able to compare it to the flu at its century-worst without social distancing. Which is part of why we know it is far worse and that we shouldn't compare it to the flu when talking about what measures are necessary.

To reiterate: COVID with social distancing = deadlier than the flu has been for a century even without social distancing. That's my point.

 

Jesus H. Christ, I haven't said Covid-19 isn't deadlier than influenza. Of course it is. I'm only disputing your characterization of flu-related death incidence as "flat" over the last decade, which is what Army Soldier asked about. This thread isn't even about the flu.

 

I don't believe that what you call facts are factual. You're using the same tactic used by eco-doomsayers. I'm not working without facts. I just don't believe that what you cite as fact is factual. There's difference there that might be beyond you.

 

The post I quoted was about the flu, and more than one post in this thread has been about comparing COVID to the flu.

Meanwhile, AS asked if the flu death numbers were trending up or down, and I pointed out that the trend is flat and, even at its century-high peak is below what we are seeing for COVID, even after we had social distancing measures for COVID and not for the flu.

 

You prefer your statements of religious faith instead, which was foreseeable.

 

True