Topline
Patients admitted to a hospital with Covid-19 symptoms are five times more likely to die than those with the seasonal flu, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study published on Tuesday, further indication that President Trump and some of his allies have been erroneously comparing the two illnesses.
SANTA ROSA, CA - JULY 14: Scott Rocco exits the new hospital tent outside the Santa Rosa Memorial ... [+]
Key Facts
Among those hospitalized, 21% of Covid-19 patients surveyed died versus 3.8% of influenza patients.
Additionally, people with Covid-19 were hospitalized almost three times longer and were at a higher risk for 17 respiratory and nonrespiratory complications.
The agency assessed data from the national Veterans Health Administration and compared 3,948 Covid-19 patients between March 1 and May 31, 2020 and 5,453 patients between October 1, 2018 and February 1, 2020.
While Covid-19 patients tended to be slightly older than people hospitalized with influenza, people who contracted the flu were more likely to have an underlying medical condition, which increases the risks of severe symptoms among coronavirus victims.
As has been noted throughout the pandemic, Black and Hispanic people were at a disproportionately higher risk for complications from both Covid-19 and the flu.
The report pointed to social, environmental, economic and structural inequities as the reason.
Key Background
The CDC estimates that in the previous influenza season, 38 million people were sick and 22,000 died. Nine months after the first confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the United States, there have been 8.2 million confirmed cases and 220,000 reported deaths. Public health experts are urging people to receive a flu vaccination this year given the expected burden on hospitals and the higher risk of complications from contracting both illnesses. Lockdowns and other social-distancing policies appear to have curbed the spread of influenza this past season. Trump was criticized and even fact-checked by Twitter after he tweeted on October 6: "Flu season is coming up! Many people every year, sometimes over 100,000, and despite the Vaccine, die from the Flu. Are we going to close down our Country? No, we have learned to live with it, just like we are learning to live with Covid, in most populations far less lethal!!!"
Big Number
The full scope of Covid-19's damage is still not known. Another CDC study published on Tuesday found that there have been 300,000 excess deaths in the country, indicating the official coronavirus morality tally is low.
