The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wants Americans to know: COVID-19 is nothing like the seasonal flu.
According to Gizmodo, a new CDC report reveals people hospitalized with COVID-19 are over five times more likely to die than those hospitalized for influenza.
Also, the risk of serious complications like pneumonia and shock is significantly higher from the novel coronavirus than from the flu.
Gizmodo reports that compared to flu patients, COVID-19 sufferers are at increased risk for 17 respiratory and nonrespiratory complications.
They are also 19 times more likely to develop acute respiratory distress syndrome, a life-threatening condition that fills the lungs with fluid.
Heart inflammation, pneumonia, liver failure, shock, blood infections, and brain bleeds are among the other complications more likely in COVID-19 patients.
COVID-19 patients also stay in the hospital longer than flu patients, taking approximately 8.6 days versus three days.