Why the Spanish Flu Was Worse Than COVID

Both the Spanish flu and COVID had major negative effects on the world, but the

Spanish flu was worse. The Spanish flu occurred from 1918-1920 and caused around

50 million deaths and had a mortality rate of about 2% on average. COVID started in

December of 2019 and is still going. It has caused around 6.1 million deaths so far and

has a mortality rate less than 1% on average. A very important difference to note

between COVID and the Spanish flu is that they each effect different age groups.

COVID is much more lethal to elederly people, while the Spanish flu was much more

lethal to younger children. The government response to each of these diseases was

vastly different. For the Spanish flu the government tried to downplay the virus and

didn't take severe enough measures soon enough. This caused it to spread very fast all

around the world. COVID on the other hand was taken very seriously right from the

start, and was contained better. Regardless of the containment of the virus, they both

had a major negative impact on the worlds economy. While there wasn't much data

back then, economists and historians estimate that on average the Spanish flu reduced

the per capita GDP of a typical country by around 6% - 7%. In 2022 so far, it has

reduced the per capita GDP by anywhere between 0.5% to 6% depending on the

country. In conclusion, based on how the government handled each pandemic, the

global economic impact, and total casualties, the Spanish flu was worse than COVID.