Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic
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Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic
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Re: Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic
#2haha
Re: Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic
#3While I think this is most likely due to masking, distancing and staying home when sick, which were all far more effective against the flu than against SARS-CoV-2, I wonder how much this was affected by some of the deep cleans that cities were doing at the beginning of the pandemic where they basically sprayed entire cities with disinfectant trucks. Does anyone with more expertise have any thoughts about that?
Re: Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic
#4Why did the flu also disappear in the states that had effectively no covid restrictions?
This is a serious question and not an attempt at rhetoric. I really am curious. Was flu never a problem in Florida? Was voluntary compliance so widespread that heavy handed government policy had no marginal anti-flu effect? Something else?
Re: Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic
#5Just speculating here, but maybe because of false positives where flu cases get labeled as Covid? I've heard that PCR tests were not meant to be used for large scale virus detection.
EDIT: The PCR test quote was fact checked and deemed to be misleading, but it still sounds like they are not very accurate [0].
[0]: https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-pcr-idUSKBN2442...
Re: Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic
#6Why did the flu also disappear in the states that had effectively no covid restrictions? This is a serious question and not an attempt at rhetoric. I really am curious. Was flu never a problem in Florida? Was voluntary compliance so widespread that heavy handed government policy had no marginal anti-flu effect? Something else?
The likely explanation is that, because the flu is significantly less transmissible than COVID, even states with "no restrictions" were able to knock it out because enough people took enough measures to protect themselves from airborne/surface communicable disease in general.
In other words, you can probably beat back the flu significantly by having enough of the population mask up, wash/sanitize their hands, etc.
Re: Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic
#7Why did the flu also disappear in the states that had effectively no covid restrictions? This is a serious question and not an attempt at rhetoric. I really am curious. Was flu never a problem in Florida? Was voluntary compliance so widespread that heavy handed government policy had no marginal anti-flu effect? Something else?
>Why did the flu also disappear in the states that had effectively no covid restrictions?
Where are you getting this take? Life in the US in 2020 is dramatically different than it was in 2019.
Re: Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic
#8While I think this is most likely due to masking, distancing and staying home when sick, which were all far more effective against the flu than against SARS-CoV-2, I wonder how much this was affected by some of the deep cleans that cities were doing at the beginning of the pandemic where they basically sprayed entire cities with disinfectant trucks. Does anyone with more expertise have any thoughts about that?
You realize those « deep cleans » are mostly comms operations for governments to look like they are doing stuff, right? Virus live (mostly) in people, not on sidewalks.
One of the most ridiculous example: the Thai government went to the extent of spraying disinfectant in the forest next to the Burmese border, and got pictures published in newspaper to show their great work. Comical! [1]
[1] https://twitter.com/thainewsreports/status/13819185863488225...
Re: Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic
#9Why did the flu also disappear in the states that had effectively no covid restrictions? This is a serious question and not an attempt at rhetoric. I really am curious. Was flu never a problem in Florida? Was voluntary compliance so widespread that heavy handed government policy had no marginal anti-flu effect? Something else?
Large indoor gatherings, indoor restaurants, bars, were shut down for months. Grocery stores enforced or at least encouraged their own mask policies. What’s more in Florida, those few steps covered almost all the ways people really interact there. Like much of the US, there is almost zero spontaneous sharing of space outside of bars, restaurants, stores and churches.
I personally dislike the isolation of extreme car culture, but it does help in situations like this.
Re: Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic
#10Why did the flu also disappear in the states that had effectively no covid restrictions? This is a serious question and not an attempt at rhetoric. I really am curious. Was flu never a problem in Florida? Was voluntary compliance so widespread that heavy handed government policy had no marginal anti-flu effect? Something else?
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