How many people die of the ’flu each year?

How does this compare with the Coronavirus?

© Brexit Facts4EU.Org

Is it cold and heartless, or caring and factual, to ask these questions?

PLEASE NOTE: What follows is the first of many articles we have published on COVID, back on 04 Mar 2020. It seems to have been linked to somewhere, by COVID enthusiasts who continue to post comments below, without reading our subsequent work. PLEASE read a selection of our full list of Coronavirus articles, available here.

Many readers will be watching the daily press briefings from No.10 each day in the late afternoon. Some readers will by now be craving information which is never asked by the BBC.

Over the months we have done our best to provide the answers to a variety of different questions which are never asked by the broadcast media. For our latest summary of more up-to-date articles please click here.

Here are two basic questions:-

How many people die of the ‘flu each year?

And how does this compare with the Coronavirus?

In early March we provided readers with World Health Organisation (WHO) data on deaths worldwide due to influenza. After significant research we can now provide readers with the official information on deaths in England from the ‘flu.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

’Flu deaths in England 2014-2018, versus deaths “with Coronavirus” in 2020

  • Deaths attributed to the ’flu have varied between 11,875 and 28,330 per winter season
  • So far this year, deaths of people who tested positive for Coronavirus total 8,937
  • We still have no official information on how many of these deaths were actually due to Coronavirus

© Brexit Facts4EU.Org - click to enlarge

The information on ‘flu deaths we have provided above is the latest official and complete information available. The ‘deaths with Coronavirus’ figure is correct as of Easter Sunday, 12 Apr 2020 at 4am.

The information for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is recorded separately and we have not been able to find comparable figures to add to what you see above. Nevertheless we think that the data for England is interesting on its own.

Observations

There’s no doubt that the Coronavirus is a vicious little blighter. By the time that most readers will have read this, the number of deaths in the UK as a whole, where the deceased also tested positive for the Coronavirus, will have topped 10,000. Our concern remains proportionality of response, as it has been from the start.

No-one ever batted an eyelid or launched a drone because of deaths from winter ’flu

In the winter of 2014/2015, England on its own lost 28,330 people due to the ’flu, to say nothing of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Neither the Government nor the media batted an eyelid. All businesses and shops remained open, as did schools, restaurants, charities, churches, parks, and everywhere else.

Flights continued as normal. No holidays, weddings, or concerts were cancelled. The plans for the General Election, the Olympic Games, the 2016 EU Referendum, and even the Eurovision song contest continued to stay on track.

The police were not employing drones to keep us all under effective house arrest. Operations for serious conditions other than the ’flu were not being cancelled. Elderly and sick people could continue to see their doctors. And the economy was not being trashed for the younger generation.

In other words, life went on, completely unchanged. 28,330 people died of the ’flu in England alone. 89% of these people were pensioners. But life went on.

This morning (at 4am when this article is being finalised ) 8,937 people have died in England who have also tested positive for the Coronavirus. We don’t know how many have died “of the Coronavirus”, we only know that 8,937 have died “with the virus”.

Let’s keep things sensible and form opinions based on facts

The ’flu kills. Massive job losses kill. Poverty and despair kill. Lack of exercise kills. Over-eating through boredom kills. Total loss of quality of life kills.

All we are asking for is for some balance in the debate. Let’s work this thing out properly. To do that we need some solid facts. If others will not provide them, then we have to. Insane that we should have to do this, when we are trying to survive on a tiny income and yet the larger media and Brexit organisations have so much money, but this is the world we now seem to live in.

If you can help us to survive in our fifth year, please donate a little something to us this Easter Sunday. Quick and secure donation methods are below. Thank you so much, and you'll get a personal email from a memnber of the team.

[ Sources: UK Government official 'flu reports including input from the Vaccines and Countermeasures Service, National Infection Service, Public Health England, with contributions from: Royal College of General Practitioners; Health Protection Scotland; West of Scotland Specialist Virology Centre; Public Health Wales; Public Health Agency Northern Ireland; Real-time Syndromic Surveillance Team, Public Health England; Flusurvey, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine; Respiratory Virus Unit, VRD, MS Colindale, Public Health England ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Easter Sunday 12 Apr 2020

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