Comparing Covid-19 and the 1918 flu pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic is often compared to the 1918 flu pandemic, in which 675,000 people in the U.S. died. A new study quantifies the impact that the two pandemics had on New York City, which was hard-hit during the 1918 crisis and was until recently the epicenter of the current pandemic. Nearly 288 people died for every 100,000 person-months — which denotes death over time — in the city during the 1918 pandemic, compared to 202 out of every 100,000 person-months between early March and early May this year. While the overall incidence of the disease may be comparable, the increase in death rate compared to control periods was higher during the current pandemic: The first two months of the Covid-19 pandemic saw more than four times the death rate as was seen during 2017-2019, whereas the 1918 pandemic death rate was 2.8 times the rate observed between 1914-1917.