COVID-19 much more deadly than the average flu

The novel coronavirus is almost 20 times more likely to cause complications leading to death.

Addressed some of the stark differences betweeh officials have said really since may, and now they have more concrete numbers to back it up.

Over the last three years national estimates put the number of deaths caused by the flu between .06 to .14 percent of the people who contracted it, said one o-h-a official.

A stark contrast to the 2.7 percent case fatality rate of covid-19 in the u-s, according to johns hopkins coronavirus resource center.

To put that into perspective, the u-s census' latest estimate says about 220,000 people live in jackson county.

If everyone contracted the flu, between 132 and 308 people would be expected to die from complications caused by the flu virus.

If everyone contracted the novel coronavirus, about 6,160 people would be expected to die from complications caused by covid-19.

Meaning, the coronavirus is 20 times more deadly than the flu.

Patrick allen says, "compare covid-19 deaths to flu deaths is to ensure that you guys have that information... it's important to understand that covid-19 is a serious risk."

And the fatality rate could go up as infections rise, including here in oregon.

Cases in the last week are up 25 percent, similar to the surge we saw in late june.

Another obvious difference, the seasonal flu has a vaccine.

The coronavirus does not.

It allows the virus to spread more without meeting any