Photo: Government of Alberta

By Shane Clausing

More than the flu

Hinshaw stresses COVID-19 is much more than “just a flu”

Nov 3, 2020 | 5:25 PM

After the province announced 2,268 new cases of COVID-19 from October 30 to November 2, Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw continued to stress to Albertans that COVID-19 is more serious than the seasonal flu, and that it shouldn’t be treated as such.

“It is now flu season and I have heard some people recently dismiss COVID as no different from influenza. While there are some similarities, I want to stress the differences between them and the challenges that each of them presents to us.”

“First, there is no vaccine for COVID-19 unlike influenza. Second, this virus is more deadly than influenza, especially seasonal influenza.”

“While the true mortality of COVID-19 will take some time to fully understand, the preliminary data is clear. In the last four influenza seasons, the peak number of deaths we have recorded in a full year is 92. In just eight months, there have been 338 deaths from COVID-19, despite taking extraordinary measures to contain transmission.”

She also pointed to the strain that COVID-19 has on the province’s health system, something that influenza has not done in any recent year.

“In the past five years, the maximum number of influenza outbreaks in acute care (centres) in a single year was 40 acute care outbreaks in 2017-18. In six months alone, and despite aggressive measures to limit transmission, we have already had more than 40 COVID-19 outbreaks in acute settings. This is not to minimize the impact of influenza or the importance of getting your flu shot.”

“It is important to highlight that we cannot treat this virus as something that our health system can easily absorb or something that will simply depart when spring arrives.

Dr. Hinshaw reiterated that while people might be tired of talking or hearing about COVID-19 and following the rules, the virus is not leaving us anytime soon.

“The onus is on us to adapt and to embrace the measures that will keep us safe and limit the spread, while continuing to live and function as a society.”

“We are at a critical juncture in this pandemic. I know this has been a tiring year. We cannot give up, we must not give up.”