> years of hearing it was "just a flu"

"Just a flu" was always bullshit on two fronts: influenza is a terrible disease that has killed millions, and everyone serious knew COVID was worse.

But of course: "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie."

Wait, how has Covid been worse than Influenza? Infuenza killed around 50 million people in 1918. There were far less people back then, and travel was slower.

Influenza is a virus that is constantly mutating. I think the comparison means to the variants colloquially known as "the flu", which are the ones that make you sick for a week or maybe two. They're not comparing to all influenza variants ever.

Exactly. It's still a serious infection! It makes otherwise healthy young adults super ill for a week or two, and kill the elderly and the very young.

The original strain of covid was not worse than the deadliest strains of influenza, but "common" circulating strains of influenza kill tens of thousands almost every year. I would say every year, except deaths from influenza plummeted in 2020/2021 due to masking and social distancing.

2020 and 2021 are the root of my claim that Covid is "worse". Millions died of covid during this time, but deaths from influenza dropped to minuscule levels. Some strains of influenza may have gone extinct.

Influenza that makes you sick for a week or two isn't a trivial thing either! If you're lucky, you'll just feel awful for a week. If you're unlucky, you're part of the chain of transmission that kills someone's grandparents. Get your flu shots.

> This finding should be interpreted in the context of a 2 to 3 times greater number of people being hospitalized for COVID-19 vs influenza in the US in this period.

> However, the difference in mortality rates between COVID-19 and influenza appears to have decreased since early in the pandemic; death rates among people hospitalized for COVID-19 were 17% to 21% in 2020 vs 6% in this study, while death rates for those hospitalized for influenza were 3.8% in 2020 vs 3.7% in this study.

The gap between mortality rates for covid and the flu has decreased, but covid is still clearly worse.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2803749

While you're right that then 1918 flu was worse than any variant of Covid that was more than 100 years ago, not now. Covid is now, and considerably more deadly than current flu strains.

The flu comment was some fake news. I'm surprised that you repeated that blindly.

Also your assumption why you have COVID now is just racist or stupid.

COVID is still out there, people still get COVID.

The simplest explainatiom why you got COVID: because someone was infected and now you were unlucky in comparison to before.

COVID did not disappear.

If you have no underlying conditions and under 70 or so then it is just like flu/a bad cold in 99% of cases.

1% of all humans below 70 is still tens of millions of affected.

I see. Thanks for the comment. I'm resentful towards friends and family who are anti-vaxxers and downplay the danger, esp since I have elderly parents at risk. I'm mid 60's, they're mid 80's.

> just racist or stupid

I don't see that. China opened up. 230 million Chinese got infected. It mutated. A more transmissible mutation has been reported. I live in Silicon Valley with close ties to China. I live in an Asian neighborhood. I've lived here for three years. I've interacted plenty with my neighbors and shopped Asian stores. My experience has been pleasant. I have been careful and not changed my behavior.

There's a chance the more transmissible mutation made it's way from China to the San Jose airport and to the Trader Joe's across the highway where I picked it up. Since I went three years and did nothing different, it's just a theory I have. Maybe my symptoms are different. Time will tell. Nothing about what I just said is racist.

It's already dominant since February and we have April now.

As I said corona is here. Plenty of people haven't had it and still get it for the first time for different reasons.

Nothing you have said has refuted the idea that I got a new mutation in March, which might medically be good for me to know. Instead you call me racist and stupid for emotional reasons that I'm not interested in.

I tried again to make it clear that your theory has no base.

It doesn't matter that you life close to asian part when this mutation is already dominant for a while across the world.

The racist part came from the struggle Asians faced in USA after trump.

There's very few Trump people in San Jose and very large Asian population so there's no discrimination. People here are worried about the large amount of travel between Silicon Valley and China. Santa Clara County was the first in the nation to lock down and the Asian community is still very careful. It's quite possible that I have a new mutation and it will be interesting to find out if this turns into long Covid after 12 weeks (I'm on week 6). I apologize for not making this clear and sounding like a racist.