Flu Deaths Decreasing Due to Quarantine
The Claim
Flu deaths have been falsely classified as COVID-19 deaths.
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The claim went viral on social media throughout the pandemic, but particularly in December 2020.
Misbar’s Analysis
People often compare COVID-19 to the seasonal flu. The flu and COVID-19 share a few symptoms and are both respiratory viruses. The flu also takes quite a few lives every year.
The Center for Disease Control keeps close watch over the flu, even during the pandemic. While a lot of data won’t be released until next year, the data they have released shows a decline in flu cases. Since the flu has some similar symptoms to COVID-19, some have concluded that many flu-related deaths may have been falsely classified.
However, Misbar’s investigation found that are several reasons why this claim is incorrect. First, efforts to combat the coronavirus can also be suitable for containing the flu. The flu requires human contact to spread, so reducing the amount of human contact reduces the chance of getting the flu.
Americans have also been getting flu vaccines at higher rates than before, with 72 million recipients in 2020 at this time of writing. In 2019, only 35 million Americans were inoculated with a flu vaccine. This may also explain the lower rates of flu-caused deaths.
Another reason is that flu season hasn’t ended yet. Data on flu-related deaths takes a while to be reported on. Moreover, since the CDC is dealing with a pandemic, it’s entirely likely that they are being overwhelmed.
