COVID vs. flu — is it a fair comparison?
CBC
Colin Furness says the goal shouldn't be to learn to live with COVID-19 the same way we live with the flu.
They are not the same, said Furness, an infection control epidemiologist from Ontario who has been watching New Brunswick's experience with the pandemic.
"There's an enormous danger to treating COVID like a respiratory virus and then holding it up against the flu," he said.
"I really do blame governments, and to some extent public health authorities for not being clear about the nature of the dangers posed by COVID," said Furness.
"And it's frustrating to me that your average Canadian sees COVID as a moderate-risk respiratory virus. That couldn't be further from the truth."
While COVID-19 has a respiratory phase, it is not a respiratory virus and it can cause serious long-term — even permanent — damage.
Scientists are still working to understand the lingering effects of the disease, including the loss of brain tissue and damage to vital organs.
"Flu is none of that," said Furness. "Flu is a respiratory virus. And if it doesn't kill you, it disappears completely."
Influenza statistics don't come close to what New Brunswick is seeing with COVID. The most recent statistics available from the Department of Health are for Week 10, which was March 6 to 12.
In that week, there were no cases of influenza reported and not a single hospitalization due to the flu. The same goes for week 10 last year. In fact, there have only been 18 influenza cases reported so far this flu season.
In 2020, just before the pandemic was declared, Week 10 saw 228 new cases of the flu and 28 new hospitalizations. In 2019, Week 10 brought 102 new cases and 18 new hospitalizations.
As of March 12, there have been no deaths reported from the flu in the current flu season. The same goes for the same period in 2021. By this time in 2020, there were six deaths, and in 2019, there were 20.
By comparison, just last week, there were 13 COVID-related deaths in New Brunswick, while more than 7,000 new cases were reported, nearly 600 health-care workers were off sick, and nearly 150 people were hospitalized with COVID.
Despite the huge difference in numbers, Dr. Brenda Wilson, a public health physician and a professor of community health at Memorial University, understands why people make comparisons to the flu.
Diane Sims has already written her own obituary.
Thirty years after her murder in 1994, Halifax police are still looking for Kimber Leanne Lucas's killer.
When Kevin Campbell took a 1991 Chevy truck in trade at his dealership on Moncton's Salisbury Road in early November, he didn't have it for long.
Quebec mayor says 'one-size-fits-all' language law isn't right for his town where French is thriving
English is not Daniel Côté's first language but he says it's integral to the town he calls home.
As their role in health care continues to grow, nurse practitioners across Canada are looking to Alberta, where nurse practitioners recently formed their own union — but on P.E.I., the nurses' union that represents them says it's doing its job.
As the fallout over fallen buildings in Gore Park continues, Hamilton officials will be turning their attention to other properties.
Fire crews responded to a transport truck fire on the Ambassador Bridge connecting Windsor and Detroit.
When the government touts that its auto insurance reforms might curb premiums by $400 come 2027, the ministers and premier don't readily mention what's to come in the three years leading up to that.
Who poses the greater threat to the free speech of Conservative MPs — the Speaker of the House of Commons or the leader of the Conservative Party?
As city council prepares to vote on a temporary shelter village for people experiencing homelessness in Thunder Bay, Ont., opposition is growing among the area's business community.
A Toronto centre for Black art is hosting an exhibition this weekend that exclusively features work by artists from across the African diaspora.