# COVID-19 vs 2009 Swine Flu Reaction **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [March 19, 2020, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-19-vs-2009-swine-flu-reaction/849799 "2020-03-19T13:57:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chargerrich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chargerrich/32/5399_2.png) [@chargerrich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chargerrich)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-19-vs-2009-swine-flu-reaction/849799/1 "2020-03-19T13:57:45Z")
I am trying to understand the level of variance in impact that COVID-19 has wrought… from melting our economy and shutting down businesses and schools versus the H1N1 “swine flu” from 2009. Maybe I have forgotten but i do not remember even a fraction of the panic, media coverage and voliatility in 2009 despite - according to google fu - the H1N1 flu killing over one half million people while COVID-19 is currently at just over 9000 deaths. I am most certainly not downplaying this pandemic but wondering why a 2009 pandemic with 50x the death was devoid of this level of chaos. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-19-vs-2009-swine-flu-reaction/849799/2 "2020-03-19T14:04:10Z")
1. People are used to the flu. “Flu” doesn’t sound as scary. A lot of people don’t even know what it is; they use the term “Flu” to mean nausea. Words have a big impact on perception. 2. The extent to which the 2009 epidemic killed that many people is unclear. When you see those huge numbers they are usually “flu-related deaths,” not people whose actual cause of death was flu. They rope in anyone who had the flu around the time of death and often people who displayed flu-like symptoms but actually were never diagnosed as having influenza. 3. The fear around COVID-19 is not how many people it HAS killed. It’s how many people it COULD kill, and some of the numbers being put out are terrifying. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-19-vs-2009-swine-flu-reaction/849799/3 "2020-03-19T15:57:31Z")
Not to mention maybe 20% unemployment. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-19-vs-2009-swine-flu-reaction/849799/4 "2020-03-19T16:15:24Z")
> [@chargerrich](#): > > I am trying to understand the level of variance in impact that COVID-19 has wrought… from melting our economy and shutting down businesses and schools versus the H1N1 “swine flu” from 2009. > > Maybe I have forgotten but i do not remember even a fraction of the panic, media coverage and voliatility in 2009 despite - according to google fu - the H1N1 flu killing over one half million people while COVID-19 is currently at just over 9000 deaths. > > I am most certainly not downplaying this pandemic but wondering why a 2009 pandemic with 50x the death was devoid of this level of chaos. > > Thanks. H1N1 killed an estimated [150-500,000](https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/2009-h1n1-pandemic.html)people worldwide in one year. COVID-19 has been around for, what, 3 months? Lets see how things shake out 9 months from now. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covid-19-vs-2009-swine-flu-reaction/849799/5 "2020-03-19T22:17:03Z")
> [@chargerrich](#): > > I am trying to understand the level of variance in impact that COVID-19 has wrought… from **melting our economy** and shutting down businesses and schools versus the H1N1 “swine flu” from 2009. China and Europe melted their economies first so it’s probably not a “mild” flu nor a US Deep State / media / socialist hoax. COVID isn’t a flu. ISTM the current frenzied reaction is based on different transmissions - unlike H1N1, COVID is contagious before symptoms appear. COVID snuck up on us; few nations were anywhere near ready for pandemics they’d been warned of for years. Some “leaders” willfully ignored science and stayed in denial for precious weeks and months. Now they play frantic catch-up while casualties mount. :mad: