Despite False Comparisons, We Have Never Seen Anything Like This

I am sure that you have heard the many comparisons of how the COVID-19 pandemic is “No different than the seasonal flu” or how it happened back in 2009–2010 with the H1N1 virus and so on.

These comparisons are made largely by Donald Trump and his supporters as well as right-wing pundits on networks like Fox and they are completely false and have no basis in science or reality when looking at the current virus and the associated pandemic.

Still, they ignore the science and compare this pandemic to previous virus outbreaks and even the seasonal flu and these comparisons are false and flat out irresponsible to make as people are dying and lives are destroyed because of the current virus.

The evidence shows that this virus is unlike anything that we have seen in decades and perhaps, ever.

The virus has disrupted so much in this country and throughout the world over the last six months and there likely will be more to come as we really see no end in sight with deaths and cases rising across the United States and on a global level too.

How is this virus different than other pandemics and even other viruses that we have seen?

It is different in so many ways, let us take a look.

More Contagious Than Viruses in Previous Years and More Disruptive Than Other Pandemics

H1N1 (or Swine Flu as it is sometimes referred to as) back in 2009–10 was a deadly and contagious virus, but when compared to what we are experiencing now with COVID-19 it pales in comparison and some have even suggested that it is not even in the same category.

The current pandemic is much more contagious and in fact more deadly than the H1N1 pandemic and the evidence on this speaks for itself when putting the two pandemics up against one another. This current pandemic with the Coronavirus has spread more rapidly and taken more lives and as a result has disrupted the entire world.

Let us look at the U.S. numbers to see how it spreads faster than H1NI and has killed at a faster rate than not only the last pandemic, but others as well.

COVID-19 (Feb/March 2020-Current)

Cases — 5.2 million

Hospitalizations- 338,000

Deaths — 165,000

H1N1 (2009–2010)

Cases — 60.8 million

Hospitalizations — 274,304

Deaths — — 12,469

Now, we see that there were many more cases of H1N1 than this current pandemic but COVID-19 kills more people and gets people much more sick than the Swine Flu did and you do not see the mass disruptions in society with shutdowns and such as we have now.

This was largely in part because of how the previous virus was managed both medically and politically in this country and I hate to go political, but that has a lot to do with the current leadership versus the leadership that we had back then with the last pandemic.

So, when people compare the two viruses to justify not wearing a mask or having things on lockdown, show them these numbers and tell them that this virus is much worse than that one and for sure much more deadly than the seasonal flu is.

Let us look at the flu in fact.

The seasonal flu killed 34,000 Americans in 2019 and that is out of more than 16 million cases of it, so for people like those who support Trump to say that the flu kills more than COVID is inaccurate and ignorant and they do use this talking point and quite often.

Whether we are talking about H1N1 or the flu or any other illness, one thing is for certain and that is that an entire world has not been shut down because of an outbreak in many, many years and perhaps ever and it is unreasonable for anyone to suggest that something like this has happened before, because it has not.

The Entire World Shut Down and Life as We Know it Stopped

Unlike with other viruses in the past as well as the present, with this virus things went dark and cities and countries throughout the world completely shut down and life as we know it changed.

This is what is different and why that there is no way to compare this virus to other viruses or even other pandemics.

I was watching a hockey game this afternoon and this came to mind, how we cannot even have fans at games anymore and home ice/court/field advantage is a thing of the past and cannot happen during times like this with what is happening now.

Teams have to get tested sometimes daily, we have bubble cities where teams have to all play and quarantine at specific hotels with constant testing and to be isolated from the outside world, fan-less games, and an entirely different culture of sports than we have ever had before.

We now have these hub cities where teams play and shortened seasons as well as a variety of health measures put in place to keep people safe from a virus that has destroyed so much and disrupted the entire world in such a short period of time.

Sports are not the only part of society that has changed, other parts have as well.

Restaurants have gone almost entirely to a take-out and delivery type of platform and the one who do remain open for dine-in customers are doing so outdoors only and then stores are doing curbside and online transactions instead of the in-person shopping.

Many things have changed and the way that things are today with this pandemic and the way that our world has become as a result of this here pandemic is unlike anything that we have seen in our lifetimes.

I know, these (mostly) conservatives and certainly Trump have said that these restrictions are unnecessary and bring up those flu comparisons saying that we did not shut down the economy for other pandemics or the flu and they are right, with the exception of some schools closing for H1N1, we have not shut things down.

Why?

We have not shut down the country in the past because this situation with the COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented event and one that we have never seen before, not in our lifetimes we for sure have not seen anything close to this thing.

Comparing Tragedies Is Always How Conservatives Respond to These Type of Things

I am sure that you have heard the discussions of how those in right wing groups and communities compare gun deaths in gun control debates after every mass shooting to baseball bats, cancer, car crashes, and every other cause of death you can imagine.

They do the same with just about everything else that infringes or they think infringes on what they claim as their “freedoms” and this pandemic is yet one more of those things and just like they do with guns, they do it with the health restrictions put on people because of this pandemic.

They do not like gun control, so they will minimize the seriousness of gun safety laws and compare gun violence to other tragedies and they are now doing the same thing with this pandemic, comparing this virus of COVID-19 to the flu, Swine Flu, or even unrelated things like diabetes and other types of illnesses.

Just like with gun control, they think that just because there are more people who die from other things then that does not mean that the current problem is not serious and that the current problem should not have every resource put towards it to address it.

They say, “More die from car crashes than from guns”, which is actually not true as in more than 70% of the states, gun deaths have surpassed auto deaths as have they passed many other kinds of deaths and the same is true about this pandemic here.

COVID-19 is killing more people than the flu has and a lot more than H1N1 did, it took awhile but that is the situation as it stands now.

Comparing and deflecting does not change what a particular problem is doing and it certainly is not a solution to that problem. The fact is that this pandemic is killing people and comparing it to other things that also kill just because it is making your life more difficult and preventing you from going to the bar or on vacation solves nothing.

This is what they do though, they hear someone like Trump say that it is the same as the flu and that becomes their reality.

Not All Coronaviruses Are The Same, or Even Close

There have been three new Coronaviruses that have struck in recent years and while they have the same name and are the same in some ways, the end results have been very different and to compare them as all the same is the wrong move.

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that usually cause minor-moderate upper-respiratory tract illnesses, like the common cold. Usually they can be managed with little to no problem, but sometimes they can be more severe and cause more problems and the three of these that have caused issues in recent years have shown that.

I am sure that you remember SARS and MERS that were infecting people some time ago and seemed like they were like what COVID-19 is now in the United States and across the world. These are Coronaviruses too, so it is very easy to confuse them, but medically both in symptoms and contagion we can see that they are not the same at all.

Both MERS and SARS caused less than 1,000 deaths worldwide yet the people I was just mentioning who compare COVID to the flu and H1N1 do the same with these two viruses. They say “The world did not shut down for SARS or MERS” and they are right, it didn't and for good reason.

As of today, we have 745,000 worldwide deaths from this pandemic and these two other Coronaviruses combined for less than 2,000 deaths across the globe during their outbreak.

Not all Coronaviruses are the same and should not be treated as such, this is the deadlier and more contagious one of the three, by far.

Everything Has Changed and It will Not Be Returning to Normal Anytime Soon

Another way that this is unlike other pandemics in recent years and for sure unlike the flu is that it changed our normal lives and the normal ways in which the world operates and that change will last for some time, perhaps for years.

There are some things that differentiate this pandemic from other viruses and despite false comparisons to H1N1, Ebola, the flu, or any other illness, those illnesses did not put us in a position where we had to wear masks, practice social distancing, and close things down like the COVID-19 pandemic and despite political talking points, these measures are not “tyranny”.

These measures have been necessary to contain the outbreak regardless of what those who oppose them think and the reason that they were not needed with past pandemics is because what we have now is unprecedented and has not happened before, at least in our lifetimes.

Everything truly has changed with this pandemic, things are not the “normal” that they were before, or even with other times of national crisis.

The way that we socialize, shop, get entertainment, work, and so much more has changed with the COVID-19 world that we live in these days and these changes will stay with us for some time, longer if we do not follow the rules of those masks and keeping our distance.

Truly, this virus has changed the way that we live our lives and it is unlike any other time that we have experienced or at least have not had to live through in many years. This has changed the way we do things and how we live our lives and that cannot be compared to any other time in our lifetimes, at least for those of us in our younger years.

The only thing that we know is that everything has changed and the way that the country and the world will not return to normal anytime soon and this is something that we must accept, as well as something that we have to come to terms with as something that we have never experienced before.

The new normal is something that we cannot compare the past to, this new normal is uncharted territory for us and a time that is truly unlike any other that we have seen before. This is our new world and to compare it to other times or things is false and irresponsible.

The way Out Is to Acknowledge and Accept This Unique Time and Situation that Exists

This is where we are at. This is something that we as a nation and really as a world must come to terms with.

Saying things like, “We did not shut down the economy for H1NI or the flu” is not helpful and that is because those other illnesses and past pandemics are not even close to what is happening now with this virus, comparing it to other things is not the solution.

This is like the apples and oranges comparison, they are very different and to put one up against the other is part of the problem.

We must stay in the solution, not the problem.

The way out is to know and accept what we are up against and take the needed steps to get out of it while protecting the health and well-being of the American people while we are in it.

Of course no other time was like this and of course we did not close things down for other times of crisis and this is because this is a one of a kind time of crisis and cannot be compared to other pandemics or other times in our history, they are incomparable.

Let us stop with the comparisons and accept that this is our new normal and take the steps necessary to climb our way out.

These times are unlike any other, the way out is to accept that and work together to heal our world, find that vaccine, and keep each other and our communities safe as we do our best to adjust to the way things are today and hope that they are better in the future!