Deadlier than the ordinary flu?

[genxlib]

I continue to hear right wing sources stating that Covid19 is no worse than a flu. It is crazy that such a question has become partisan but that is where we are. Much of the criticism revolves around scientific projections yada yada...

Well we have enough data to make the proof without any projections at all. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

Take the case of New York that was well into a really bad spread before protective measures could take hold. The horrible death toll for the state is listed at 23,780. That equates to 1,212 deaths per million residents. Stated another way, .12% of all New York Residents have died of Covid19.

The widely reported death rate of flu is .1%.

Which means that New York State has already passed the number of deaths that would have been expected from the flu assuming that every single person in the state had been infected and that all current cases were resolved.

But we know that Covid isn't that widespread yet. A study of antibodies estimated that 15% of state residents show that they have been exposed. Which would put the real death rate closer to .8%-1%

This thing is definitely more deadly than the flu. No projections needed to prove that anymore.

[NutmegYankee]

1. I just lay out Connecticut's numbers since they have good reporting

2019-2020 flu season - 79 deaths
2017-2018 flu season (considered worst in decades) - 182
Covid-19 deaths since March - 2168

[ProfessorGAC]

3. Boom, Boom, Out Go The Lights

8x the deaths of the last TWO flu seasons.
In about 8 weeks!

[Squinch]

5. Those CDC flu numbers have always been bullshit, and they are part of the

reason why people are saying COVID is the same as the flu. If CT's flu numbers for the past TWO years are less than 300, why would we believe that in ANY given year flu would kill 60,000?

[NutmegYankee]

7. I actually had a RWer refuse to consider the CT data valid because of the CDC national numbers.

They simply refused to accept them, likely because it directly refuted their argument.

[Mariana]

2. The Right Wingers have convinced themselves the numbers are inflated.

While it's obvious to rational people that the numbers are being underreported in most places, they are certain the number of deaths is being padded. They believe unrelated deaths are being counted as caused by Covid-19.

[tblue37]

4. We never had to pile the dead in refrigerator trucks or bury them in trenches in Potters Field in

three layers of stacked coffins during flu season.

We never had so many patients having to be intubated because of flu.

We never had health care workers dying in such numbers because of exposure to fly patients.

How can they ignore the overflow of corpses, even if they ignore all the rest?

[genxlib]

6. The obvious answer

Is that they are not being exposed to that information in their right wing news sources.

Combine that with the fact that they don't think if New Yorkers as real Americans anyway.

[crickets]

13. +1

[panader0]

8. (over) 1,000,000 deaths, (over) 60,000 deaths 6% death rate.

I believe the average death rate for flu is near 1%.

[genxlib]

9. It is widely quoted as .1%

Examples

https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-compared-seasonal-flu-in-the-us-death-rates-2020-3
https://www.health.com/condition/cold-flu-sinus/how-many-people-die-of-the-flu-every-year
https://www.nytimes.com/article/coronavirus-vs-flu.html
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/30/health/coronavirus-lower-death-rate/index.html

I think you meant to say 1,000,000 cases in your comment but there are actually anywhere between 10-50 million cases per year in the US. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/past-seasons.html

[tblue37]

14. No, just 0.1%, not 1%. nt

[panader0]

15. Thanks for the info.

[blitzen]

10. And, I can choose to get a flu vaccine. And with the flu, my death will not be something out of ...

a horror film. And with the flu, I probably won't get one of the myriad debilitating permanent conditions that people of all ages who recover from COVID-19 are susceptible to. And, in a flu season, the healthcare system has proper PPE, sufficient medication, and doesn't prevent people suffering from other health problems from being treated. And, the flu doesn't kill al least 32 NYPD officers in one month, doesn't kill significant numbers of health providers, doesn't wipe out every resident of a nursing home, etc. And, we don't yet know of other potential lasting effects of COVID19. And,...., And...., And....

[genxlib]

11. Yes, All those things as well.

[flotsam]

12. Ask for pictures

of the refrigerated "overflow" trailers during any prior flu season.

[Blue_true]

16. This thing is now the fourth deadliest virus in USA history.

It has killed 60,000+ in less than 3 months. Two instances of the flu killed more people over 9 months and the 1918 Pandemic killed over 600,000 in just under 4 years. Within a month, covid19 will likely be the second deadliest virus in US history, behind the 1918 Pandemic.