3 ms·
We know how to deal with the flu. Healthy people do not normally die from it. COVID-19 is on pace to put a million people in the ground by the end of the year
by jchw 6y ago
We know how to deal with the flu. Healthy people do not normally die from it.
COVID-19 is on pace to put a million people in the ground by the end of the year (IIRC) and certainly leave many survivors with serious health problems, and we really still know very little about treating it, and it is more contagious and more deadly, especially to the healthy population.
We are past “it’s just a flu.”
- WalterBright 6y ago> We know how to deal with the flu. Not really. We just are used to it. 12,000 to 61,000 US deaths per year over the last decade. This adds up year after year. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/index.html#:~:text=While%20the%20impact%20of%20flu,61%2C000%20deaths%20annually%20since%202010 https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/index.html#:~:text=Whil.... I'm not dismissing covid as "just a flu". I'm pointing out that people dismiss the annual deaths from the flu. For example, few people take any particular steps to minimize transmission of the flu, like wearing a mask or keeping their kids out of school.
- jchw 6y agoAgain. You can treat the flu. 40k of those deaths are in the elderly. Probably more are people who are already sick. Not only is COVID not the flu, there’s basically no comparison.
- WalterBright 6y ago> there’s basically no comparison. Dismissing the annual death toll of the flu as not a real problem is what my point was. We're used to flu deaths, they aren't news. But several tens of thousands in the US still die of the flu every year. It is not a solved problem, the vaccine is only partially effective, and most people don't even get one.