COVID vs. flu — is it a fair comparison?

As COVID-19 restrictions end and New Brunwickers try to find the way back to "normal," the message from politicians and health authorities has often been this: We're going to have to learn to live with it.

After all, some say, we've learned to live with the flu.

But that comparison worries Colin Furness.

COVID-19 and flu 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.