There are the following differences between the novel coronavirus and the influenza virus:
1. Contagiousness: the novel coronavirus spreads more easily than the flu because it has a higher R0. meaning that one infected person can infect more people.
2. Symptoms: Both novel coronaviruses and influenza viruses cause fever, cough, sore throat, muscle or joint pain, headache, fatigue, etc. However, in some cases, novel coronaviruses cause difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, and severe pneumonia, whereas influenza does not usually cause such severe illness.
3. Mortality: Although the absolute number of deaths from novel coronaviruses may be less than that of influenza, the virus has a much higher mortality rate than influenza. According to WHO, the global mortality rate for novel coronaviruses is about 3.4%, while the mortality rate for influenza is usually less than 0.1%.
4. Prevention methods: For influenza, people can prevent the disease by vaccination and adopting basic hygiene practices, such as washing hands frequently and avoiding close contact with patients. For the novel coronavirus, there is no available vaccine, so preventive measures rely more on personal behavior and social distance control, such as wearing masks, maintaining social distance, and washing hands frequently.