Coronavirus Compared to the Flu Virus

Vox produced an excellent 7-minute video on the difference between the flu and the current coronavirus. This really puts the two viruses in an easy to understand context. Vox writes:

“Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, can look very similar to the flu. They have similar symptoms — a fever, cough, and the possibility of leading to pneumonia — and even spread the same way. So wanting to compare the two is natural and, frankly, understandable. 

But Covid-19 is very different from the flu. It’s more dangerous in almost every way. 

Not only is it twice as contagious, but the time it takes you to realize you are contagious is much longer. With the flu, the average time it takes you to feel sick from the moment you become sick (called the incubation period) is two days.”