The basic reproduction number of COVID-19 in an immunologically naive population is much higher than that of Influenza. Most countries stopped the first COVID w

The basic reproduction number of COVID-19 in an immunologically naive population is much higher than that of Influenza. Most countries stopped the first COVID wave using non-pharmaceutical interventions that should work against all respiratory diseases. I find it not at all surprising that this has completely crushed seasonal Influenza rates. As far as I know, in the beginning of the pandemic, western countries generally relied on rtPCR for confirming COVID-19 cases. This makes it extremely unlikely that Influenza cases were mislabeled.