Dean Blumberg, MD, of UC Davis Health, said COVID-19's mortality rate is now approaching that of influenza, whereas earlier in the pandemic it was four to five times higher than influenza's mortality rate.
Notes on verification
The quote is verified verbatim in the original Healthline article and corroborated by peer-reviewed studies showing a similar trend (early pandemic COVID mortality ~4-5x flu, narrowing over time). However, exact ratios vary across studies (1.3x to 21x) depending on population, era, and methodology, so the specific figures are a reasonable approximation rather than a precise, universally agreed statistic.
Sources
- COVID-19: CDC Ends 5-Day Isolation Recommendation - Healthline (healthline.com)
- https://vocal.media/humans/new-covid-isolation-guidelines-coming-from-cdc-what-to-expect (vocal.media)
- https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cdc-announces-new-respiratory-virus-guidance-ends-covid-isolation-policy (cidrap.umn.edu)
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10080400 (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/hospital-covid-patients-35-more-likely-die-flu-patients-last-winter-study-suggests (cidrap.umn.edu)