No, Covid-19 is not ‘just the flu’; El Paso data shows clear difference

EL PASO, Texas -- No, Covid-19 is not "just the flu."

It's something that has been said by almost every credible medical professional and many hospitalized patients interviewed by ABC-7. Yet ABC-7 has received several questions or comments from viewers who have claimed otherwise.

But the data proves the impact Covid-19 has had on El Paso -- and the rest of the world -- is not comparable to past flu seasons.

ABC-7 investigated the past five flu seasons and compared them to the Covid-19 pandemic. Since El Paso announced its first Covid-19 case on March 13, El Paso County has seen 86,752 virus cases as of Dec. 1st. But in the past five flu seasons El Paso saw a peak during the 2019-2020 season with 15,362 cases.

In fact, El Paso announced 36,638 Covid-19 cases in November alone. That's more than the past two flu seasons combined and almost as many cases as the past three seasons combined.

But the pandemic's most devastating impact on El Paso has been the number of lives it has claimed.

As of Dec. 1, El Paso health officials are reporting 933 confirmed Covid-19 deaths. In November, 331 deaths were added to the official death toll alone. There are 579 more deaths under investigation.

Meanwhile, there have been 56 flu-related deaths total over the last seven flu seasons dating back to 2013-14.

A City of El Paso spokeswoman tells ABC-7 that so far in the 2020-21 flu season, there have been no flu-related deaths reported. There were 39 confirmed flu cases in September and 96 in October. Data is still being collected for November.