Only 40% Of The GOP Say COVID-19 More Lethal Than Flu

The chart above is from a recent Gallup Poll -- done between May 17th and 29th of a national sample of 1,693 adults, with a 3 point margin of error.

When the Coronavirus pandemic reached this country, Donald Trump tried to minimize it by saying it was no more dangerous than the flu. Evidently, too many Republicans believed him. In March, only 42% of Republicans thought the Coronavirus was more lethal than the flu. By April, when it was obvious that many thousands were dying, that number actually went down to 40%.

By comparison, 61% of Independents believed it was more lethal in March, and that grew to 66% in April. Among Democrats, 74% believed it was more lethal in March and that rose to 87% in April.

December Had The Highest Rates For Colds/Flu in Years

Does it seem like colds and flu have been worse this season than in the past? If you answered "yes" then you are right. As you can see from the chart above, both colds and flu were at the highest rates for December in several years -- with 11.6% of the population having a cold in December, and 4% having the flu. That's a 2.7 point jump in colds over December 2013, and 1.2 point jump in those having the flu.

The bad news is that we are not very far into the colds/flu season. Traditionally, the highest season for these illnesses is winter -- usually December through February (although it can start earlier and/or last later). That means we have probably not seen the peak of this colds/flu season yet. It will most likely peak in January or February.

The chart below shows the groups and areas that were the hardest hit in December.

These numbers are from a recently released Gallup Poll -- done between December 1st and 30th of a random national sample of 13,165 adults, with less than a 1 point margin of error (0.4 points for flu and 0.7 points for colds).

Flu Is Earlier And Nastier This Year

The above map is from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), and shows the extent to which the flu is already affecting this country. The clear majority of states are already experiencing moderate (yellow and gold) to high (orange and red) levels of the flu (based on visits to health centers and doctors across the nation). And this map was produced on December 28th. It has only gotten worse since then. This years flu is not only early in the season, but it is also particularly nasty (the most virulent strain in a decade).

The CDC is recommending that those with flu-like symptoms "should stay home and avoid contact with other people except to get medical care". That presents a problem for the United States. While most developed nations require employers to give their employees paid sick leave, the United States does not. In fact, some 40% of the private work force does not get any paid sick leave at all, and that jumps up to about 80% for low-wage workers -- the workers who simply cannot afford to take days off work even when sick, because they are barely making ends meet on their full salary and cannot afford unpaid days off.

And here's something that should bother all Americans -- about 79% of all restaurant workers are both low-wage and don't get any paid sick leave. And even though a restaurant is a prime place to spread an infectious disease like the flu, these low-wage workers simply cannot afford to stay at home when they get sick (because food, rent, and other expenses for their families would be endangered).

Think low-wage workers going to work sick doesn't matter. The CDC estimated that this caused an extra 5 million people to get sick when the H1N1 virus hit a few years ago. This particularly virulent strain of flu could easily equal, or even top, that total. And it's all because American business owners are too stupid (or too greedy) to grant paid sick leave -- and the politicians must share that blame, since they could easily mandate it.

Is Bird Flu Coming Back ?

The first round of avain influenza (H5N1), commonly called the "bird flu", hit a few years ago (in about 2005-2006). It caused quite a scare since about 60% of humans known to have contrated it have died, and since it is carried by birds there is little way to contain it in one place. Fortunately it did not develop a human strain that could easily be transmitted from human to human, and therefore did not develop into a true pandemic (although there have been 331 deaths from 565 confirmed cases since 2003).

But it has not gone away. And in a certain group of countries it remained endemic (Bangladesh, China, Vietnam, Egypt, India, and Indonesia). But the incidence of bird flu has been growing in those countries, and has now spread to other countries thought to be free of it (Israel, Palestine, Bulgaria, Rumania, Nepal, and Mongolia). It has reached the point where the World Health Organization is starting to worry that there will be a new (and probably world-wide) outbreak of the disease.

There have been 800 cases reported in 2010-2011 so far, and health experts think there could be a serious outbreak during the Fall and Winter of 2011-2012. And the virus has mutated. The vaccines developed a few years ago do not have an effect on the mutated virus. Another scary thought is that the mutated virus may spread among humans easier this time than it did last time.

This is just the kind of possibly bad news we did not need in this time of recession, unemployment, tornados, earthquakes, hurricanes, and drought. All we need is a new pandemic to pile on top of our many other problems.