By Cyndi Ingle
1. Isn’t Covid-19 just another type of influenza (flu)?
- Contrary to misinformation floating around in social media Covid-19 is not merely another strain of influenza (flu)
- According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) flu and Covid-19 are both contagious respiratory illnesses, but they are caused by different viruses
- Covid-19 is caused by SARS-CoV-2 and flu is caused by an infection with influenza viruses A or B
What are the major differences between the flu and Covid-19?
- Covid-19 spreads more easily
- In some people Covid-19 causes more serious illness
- It can take longer for people to show symptoms when having Covid-19, usually anywhere from five to 14 days after being infected
- People can be contagious longer with Covid-19
- Covid-19 is more contagious among certain age groups and populations than flu
- More people are infected by Covid-19 during superspreader events than flu
- Most people who get flu will recover in a few days to less than two weeks
- Complications from Covid-19 can include blood clots in the veins and arteries of the lungs, heart, legs or brain
Find out more about the differences between flu and Covid-19 here.
2. Doesn’t the flu kill more people yearly than Covid-19?
Another myth is that the yearly death rate from flu (and pneumonia) is higher than for Covid-19. This is also untrue.
Canadian stats
According to Statistics Canada, Table 13-10-0394-01 Leading causes of death, total population, by age group (2019), 6,893 people died of flu and pneumonia, and it was the sixth leading cause of death for Canadians.
Conversely, Covid-19 was the cause of death for 17,729 Canadians since the start of the pandemic in early 2020 until January 15/21. You can access the information from the epidemiology update on the Government of Canada site.
Worldwide stats
Worldwide, the World Health Organization reports that 290,000 – 650,000 people around the world die of flu related causes yearly.
To date (January 16/21) over two million people have died worldwide of Covid-19.
Keep safe and keep yourself informed!
Images by Gerd Altmann and fernando zhiminaicela from Pixabay
