Everyone has likely heard someone say COVID-19 is no worse than the flu virus. However, top hospital officials in Chatham-Kent say that simply is not true.
“There is no comparison. The impact of COVID has been significant and sustained,” said Lori Marshall, the CEO of the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance. “[It] has changed the face of health care and of health care workers forever. The number of deaths that we’ve seen, even since January, has certainly been significant.”
CKHA Board Chair Alan Wildeman cited a study from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, which showed that the flu caused 1.8 deaths per 100,000 people over 20 year period between 1999-2019 in the US. He said COVID-19, on the other hand, has caused around 215 deaths per 100,000 people.
“People who keep on saying that it’s no worse than the flu — they’re simply wrong,” he said.
Marshall said, unlike influenza, COVID-19 has also taken a heavy toll on hospital staff.
“The impact on morale on health care workers over the last two years has been very difficult, and it is something that is going to take a long time for us to recover from,” she said.
Marshall pointed to the number of times elective and non-urgent surgeries have been postponed during the pandemic as another significant difference. She added that if someone is having elective surgery, that doesn’t mean it’s not required.
Marshall added that knowing some patients are not getting the care they need due to the pandemic has caused many health care workers moral distress.