from the outset this coronavirus has
been compared with flus so let's see how
that works first of all the corona virus
appears to be deadlier US authorities
list flus mortality rate at naught point
one percent the w-h-o says the mortality
rate amongst known cases of the corona
virus is three point four percent on the
face of it more than 30 times more
deadly but hold on many many cases of
corona virus are going undetected in
fact the mortality rate may be a lot
closer to the flu here's professor mark
lipstick of Carbon University I liken it
a bit to a dark room where you where
there are people sitting in rows who you
can't see and as the lights begin to go
up you think Oh some people walked into
the room but in fact those people have
been there for a while but even if the
coronavirus mortality rate does drop as
far as noir point 1 percent that's still
potentially very serious the w8 show
estimates that every year the flu kills
between 290 thousand and six hundred and
fifty thousand people so if millions of
people contract the corona virus the
death toll could still run into the
hundreds of thousands next there's the
speed at which the corona virus is
spreading here's one u.s. vaccine
scientist you know what one of the
things we've learned this virus is so
highly transmissible that you could be
caught off guard pretty quickly and as a
consequence things can move quickly so
you have to watch out
but the w-h-o is said that while the
spread of corona virus is concerning
it's not as contagious as the flu next
how do the symptoms of flu and corona
virus compare well they're similar
corona virus we know often starts with a
high fever it can then be followed by a
cough it can also lead to a shortness of
breath some patients require hospital
treatment let's see the experience of
one woman in Singapore and when I was
going to a your critical stage one other
thing that I encountered was really
breathing it felt my lungs were going
their over-drying
you were really making an effort you
know it's not like Norma days right
we'll be done even we're not even
conscious of how we breathe it was just
so laborious trying to get from my bed
to the bathroom which was like I don't
know
five meters away just walking to the
bathroom and yours was just challenging
like Julie the majority of people who've
had the corona virus have recovered but
like flu this corona virus can lead to
issues such as pneumonia and severe
acute respiratory syndrome and they in
turn can lead to multiple organ failure
and in some cases death and as with flu
those over 70 years old and with
pre-existing respiratory conditions are
more vulnerable all of which makes these
two diseases sound very familiar but
here's the w-h-o on why this corona
virus is something different we can't
treat Corbett 19 exactly the same way we
treat flu corvid 19 is a new virus to
which no one has immunity that means
more people are susceptible to infection
and some will suffer severe disease
coronavirus is possibly more deadly
possibly less contagious than flu but
there's a huge caveat here scientists
have studied flu for centuries they're
only now starting to study this corona
virus also remember flu isn't constant
sometimes it's much deadlier than normal
for example go back to 1918 and the
Spanish flu outbreak which killed 50
million people so in short what I'm
doing my best
comparing these two is tricky my
colleague Loren Moss can explain more
this is really what everyone wants to
know but the first important thing to
point out is that seasonal flu and
corona virus are not directly comparable
corona virus is a brand-new pathogen
there is no vaccine and people don't
have any kind of immunity to it yet more
cases are emerging every day and health
experts are working around the clock to
try and respond to what more is being
discovered about the virus and how it
behaves our scientists are working to
find out more about it on a daily basis
but probably realistically we're looking
to the middle half of next year before a
vaccine is readily available animal
tests are being carried out now but then
we've got to get to the stage of human
trials and then there is a big hurdle of
getting over mass-producing it
everyone's been told but the most
important thing that we can do to curb
the spread of corona virus in the U
okay and beyond is to make sure we wash
our hands thoroughly several times a day
with hot water and soap for 20 seconds