GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Many arguments against measures being taken to stop the spread of COVID-19, such as the Safer at Home order, claim the virus is just like influenza.
On paper – the symptoms can look fairly similar: Both cause fever, cough, body aches and fatigue; sometimes vomiting and diarrhea. Both can result in pneumonia – or even cause death.
In fact, transmission looks similar too. Both can be spread from person to person through droplets in the air from an infected person coughing, sneezing or talking. Both can be spread by an infected person for several days before their symptoms appear.
But COVID-19 is not just the typical flu.
“There literally is no comparison. It’s inappropriate to do that. It’s such a different virus. It’s catastrophic when we’re dealing with someone who gets really sick with it, unlike influenza where there’s a gameplan,” says Prevea Health CEO Dr. Ashok Rai, “You have a death rate with influenza, that’s true. But we don’t even know how much more damage COVID is going to cause.”
Neither virus is treatable with antibiotics – but can be treated by addressing symptoms, such as reducing fever. But when it comes down to how it impacts patients, there is a major difference.
“The flu is nowhere near as contagious as COVID-19. The flu, if you’re admitted to the hospital, you’re going to spend a few days. Yes, it can be lethal – as is COVID-19 – but a COVID-19 patient is going to spend 10-20 days in the hospital, in the ICU. We’ve even seen younger people have significant disease with COVID-19,” Rai says.
Testing is continuing to increase in Wisconsin, which will allow the state to identify a larger number of cases – along with less severe cases.
