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I can say that for march to may in France everybody that died with COVID like symptoms was counted as a COVID fatality since we didn't have enough tests. So it could very well be that many people died of the flu but were counted as COVID, we'll never know.
The title on the page: “Influenza: FluNet Summary 26 October 2020
Source: Laboratory confirmed data from the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS).”
It‘s also possible that those who would normally participate in the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System just weren‘t able to do what was normally done in a non-pandemics year. The page doesn’t present any explanation.
I can say that for march to may in France everybody that died with COVID like symptoms was counted as a COVID fatality since we didn't have enough tests. So it could very well be that many people died of the flu but were counted as COVID, we'll never know.
This is completely irrelevant to the linked data.
Here are the charts for 2019 and 2020 in the US*: https://imgur.com/a/HvBJoj2 (Note the axes are on different time scales unfortunately).
They are very similar with two major exceptions.
1. Week 13, about March 23rd, there is a dip lower, presumably due to the lock downs.
2. There was no activity throughout this spring and summer, but that's typically the case as the 2019 chart shows. 2020 is even lower (virtually no cases). While this could be due to lack of reporting, it could also be due to social distancing and masking.
We are currently in Week 44 of 2020. During week 44 of 2019 cases began to uptick slightly and then increased parabolically into the winter. We should expect the same in 2020. And this will be how we really know if flu testing is suppressed. Anyone claiming anything otherwise is speculating.
Anecdotally, my sister caught a bug recently that tested negative for COVID, and the physician suspected the flu. However, he couldn't test for flu since there was no capacity for flu testing.
https://www.who.int/influenza/gisrs_laboratory/updates/flune...
Edit: now the title has been updated, it's more accurate
A lot of people aren’t going to doctor’s offices right now. I personally know of 3 people with flu like symptoms who refused to go to the doctor for a variety of reasons, but one mentioned being a outcast for possibly having COVID 19.
Not sure why you are getting flagged. People not seeking medical assistance could be a reason why the sampling isn’t collecting any flu case.
