Connect with us

COVID-19

2017 Influenza VS 2020 COVID19 – A comparison

Published

5 minute read

We’ve all heard the claim “COVID19 is no worse than the flu”.

Is this true?  Now that COVID19 has been around for about a year we can look at the numbers and make some definitive observations.

The first case of COVID19 in Canada was reported by Health Canada on Jan. 25, in a Toronto man who had recently travelled from Wuhan.  Nine months later, COVID19 has swept the country, devastated economies, and is responsible for the death of over 12,000 Canadians.  In some areas measures to control the spread seem to be working, in other areas despite a range of measures, it’s spreading rapidly.  There’s still so many unknowns and COVID19 remains nearly as mysterious as when it first appeared. As usual in a situation where knowledge is lacking, fear is not.  The Canada Suicide Prevention Service reported to the Canadian Press that in September, 18% of their calls came from people worried about their finances while 26% of their calls were from people very worried that they or someone close to them would contract COVID-19. It’s very likely the claim COVID is no worse than the flu is an understandable response and an attempt to calm this “fear of the unknown”.  It is true that so far the survival rate is closer to 100% than it is to 99% for those of us under the age of 60, but can we truly compare COVID and influenza?

The first thing we have to do is dismiss any comparisons with the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic

The only other time millions of Canadians tried to protect themselves with masks was during the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic. Actually there is no comparison between the severity of these 2 viruses.  The 1918 Spanish Flu was FAR more devastating.  We can put this comparison to rest immediately. According to government figures the 1918  ” international pandemic killed approximately 55,000 people in Canada, most of whom were young adults between the ages of 20 and 40.”  As of early December, COVID19 is responsible for under 12,500 deaths in Canada.  There are fewer deaths (so far) and the age group most severely attacked is much, much older. The majority of COVID19 fatalities are at, or above the life expectancy of Canadians (82.37 years of age in 2019).

So what about the regular flu?  Is it true that COVID19 is no worse that the (regular) flu?

Well if you’re going to make a claim that the flu is as bad as COVID19 you’d better pick a pretty bad flu season to compare.  2017 was a bad year for the flu in Alberta.  About the worst in the past 10 years.  According to the 2017 Seasonal Influenza Summary Reports on the Alberta Health Website:

2017 Influenza –  9,069 laboratory-confirmed influenza cases (the largest number of cases in the previous five seasons)

2017 Influenza – 3,053 hospitalizations, 242 ICU admissions and 92 deaths

Compare these numbers to the stats from the Province of Alberta’s COVID19 website.

2020 COVID19 (to Dec 4) – 64,261 positive tests

2020 COVID19 (to Dec 4) – 2,096 hospitalizations, 379 ICU admissions and 590 deaths.

Up to December 4 there were actually more people hospitalized due to the flu in the 2017 / 2018 season, but that number looks like it will tip toward COVID19 in the next week or less.  The other numbers swing heavily toward COVID19 being worse than the flu. Furthermore, it’s important to note COVID19 is NOT behind us yet.  So while the numbers here are current to the beginning of December, it could be nearly another year (when vaccines have been widely distributed everywhere) before we’re more-less finished with COVID19 in this first series of waves.

Our final answer

Within the next week or so (after 58 more people are hospitalized) COVID19 will conclusively be worse and in the end far worse than the flu in every category our health system measures.

Interesting Final Note

Having said all this, a remarkable thing is happening with the 2020 flu season.  So far there isn’t one.  According to Health Canada’s weekly FluWatch Report as of the end of November there is no evidence of community circulation of the flu virus in Canada.  Officials are not sure why but they suggest the lack of positive flu tests may be related to the existence of COVID19.

After 15 years as a TV reporter with Global and CBC and as news director of RDTV in Red Deer, Duane set out on his own 2008 as a visual storyteller. During this period, he became fascinated with a burgeoning online world and how it could better serve local communities. This fascination led to Todayville, launched in 2016.

Follow Author

COVID-19

Former Trudeau minister faces censure for ‘deliberately lying’ about Emergencies Act invocation

Published on

From LifeSiteNews

By Christina Maas of Reclaim The Net

Trudeau’s former public safety minister, Marco Mendicino, finds himself at the center of controversy as the Canadian Parliament debates whether to formally censure him for ‘deliberately lying’ about the justification for invoking the Emergencies Act.

Trudeau’s former public safety minister, Marco Mendicino, finds himself at the center of controversy as the Canadian Parliament debates whether to formally censure him for “deliberately lying” about the justification for invoking the Emergencies Act and freezing the bank accounts of civil liberties supporters during the 2022 Freedom Convoy protests.

Conservative MP Glen Motz, a vocal critic, emphasized the importance of accountability, stating, “Parliament deserves to receive clear and definitive answers to questions. We must be entitled to the truth.”

The Emergencies Act, invoked on February 14, 2022, granted sweeping powers to law enforcement, enabling them to arrest demonstrators, conduct searches, and freeze the financial assets of those involved in or supported, the trucker-led protests. However, questions surrounding the legality of its invocation have lingered, with opposition parties and legal experts criticizing the move as excessive and unwarranted.

On Thursday, Mendicino faced calls for censure after Blacklock’s Reporter revealed formal accusations of contempt of Parliament against him. The former minister, who was removed from cabinet in 2023, stands accused of misleading both MPs and the public by falsely claiming that the decision to invoke the Emergencies Act was based on law enforcement advice. A final report on the matter contradicts his testimony, stating, “The Special Joint Committee was intentionally misled.”

Mendicino’s repeated assertions at the time, including statements like, “We invoked the Emergencies Act after we received advice from law enforcement,” have been flatly contradicted by all other evidence. Despite this, he has yet to publicly challenge the allegations.

The controversy deepened as documents and testimony revealed discrepancies in the government’s handling of the crisis. While Attorney General Arif Virani acknowledged the existence of a written legal opinion regarding the Act’s invocation, he cited solicitor-client privilege to justify its confidentiality. Opposition MPs, including New Democrat Matthew Green, questioned the lack of transparency. “So you are both the client and the solicitor?” Green asked, to which Virani responded, “I wear different hats.”

The invocation of the Act has since been ruled unconstitutional by a federal court, a decision the Trudeau government is appealing. Critics argue that the lack of transparency and apparent misuse of power set a dangerous precedent. The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms echoed these concerns, emphasizing that emergency powers must be exercised only under exceptional circumstances and with a clear legal basis.

Reprinted with permission from Reclaim The Net.

Continue Reading

COVID-19

Australian doctor who criticized COVID jabs has his suspension reversed

Published on

From LifeSiteNews

By David James

‘I am free, I am no longer suspended. I can prescribe Ivermectin, and most importantly – and this is what AHPRA is most afraid of – I can criticize the vaccines freely … as a medical practitioner of this country,’ said COVID critic Dr. William Bay.

A long-awaited decision regarding the suspension of the medical registration of Dr William Bay by the Medical Board of Australia has been handed down by the Queensland Supreme Court. Justice Thomas Bradley overturned the suspension, finding that Bay had been subject to “bias and failure to afford fair process” over complaints unrelated to his clinical practice.

The case was important because it reversed the brutal censorship of medical practitioners, which had forced many doctors into silence during the COVID crisis to avoid losing their livelihoods.

Bay and his supporters were jubilant after the decision. “The judgement in the matter of Bay versus AHPRA (Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency) and the state of Queensland has just been handed down, and we have … absolute and complete victory,” he proclaimed outside the court. “I am free, I am no longer suspended. I can prescribe Ivermectin, and most importantly – and this is what AHPRA is most afraid of – I can criticize the vaccines freely … as a medical practitioner of this country.”

Bay went on: “The vaccines are bad, the vaccines are no good, and people should be afforded the right to informed consent to choose these so-called vaccines. Doctors like me will be speaking out because we have nothing to fear.”

Bay added that the judge ruled not only to reinstate his registration, but also set aside the investigation into him, deeming it invalid. He also forced AHPRA to pay the legal costs. “Everything is victorious for myself, and I praise God,” he said.

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), which partners the Medical Board of Australia, is a body kept at arm’s length from the government to prevent legal and political accountability. It was able to decide which doctors could be deregistered for allegedly not following the government line. If asked questions about its decisions AHPRA would reply that it was not a Commonwealth agency so there was no obligation to respond.

The national board of AHPRA is composed of two social workers, one accountant, one physiotherapist, one mathematician and three lawyers. Even the Australian Medical Association, which also aggressively threatened dissenting doctors during COVID, has objected to its role. Vice-president Dr Chris Moy described the powers given to AHPRA as being “in the realms of incoherent zealotry”.

This was the apparatus that Bay took on, and his victory is a significant step towards allowing medical practitioners to voice their concerns about Covid and the vaccines. Until now, most doctors, at least those still in a job, have had to keep any differing views to themselves. As Bay suggests, that meant they abrogated their duty to ensure patients gave informed consent.

Justice Bradley said the AHPRA board’s regulatory role did not “include protection of government and regulatory agencies from political criticism.” To that extent the decision seems to allow freedom of speech for medical practitioners. But AHPRA still has the power to deregister doctors without any accountability. And if there is one lesson from Covid it is that bureaucrats in the Executive branch have little respect for legal or ethical principles.

It is to be hoped that Australian medicos who felt forced into silence now begin to speak out about the vaccines, the mandating of which has coincided with a dramatic rise in all-cause mortality in heavily vaccinated countries around the world, including Australia. This may prove psychologically difficult, though, because those doctors would then have to explain why they have changed their position, a discussion they will no doubt prefer to avoid.

The Bay decision has implications for the way the three arms of government: the legislature, the executive and the judiciary, function in Australia. There are supposed to be checks and balances, but the COVID crisis revealed that, when put under stress, the separation of powers does not work well, or at all.

During the crisis the legislature routinely passed off its responsibilities to the executive branch, which removed any voter influence because bureaucrats are not elected. The former premier of Victoria, Daniel Andrews, went a step further by illegitimately giving himself and the Health Minister positions in the executive branch, when all they were entitled to was roles in the legislature as members of the party in power. This appalling move resulted in the biggest political protests ever seen in Melbourne, yet the legislation passed anyway.

The legislature’s abrogation of responsibility left the judiciary as the only branch of government able to address the abuse of Australia’s foundational political institutions. To date, the judges have disappointed. But the Bay decision may be a sign of better things to come.

READ: Just 24% of Americans plan to receive the newest COVID shot: poll

Continue Reading

Trending

X