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Is Coronavirus "Just A Fancy Influenza? By No Means," Says Santa Barbara County Health Official

Since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis, certain people have claimed that it's nothing more than a version of the flu, and that the lockdown measures are too extreme.

Meanwhile, medical officials have worked to refute that idea, drawing from examples around the world.

In April, Santa Barbara County Supervisor Peter Adam had asked for a comparison between SARS-CoV-2 and other strains of the flu.

At a Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, Santa Barbara County Public Health Officer Dr. Henning Ansorg came prepared to answer that question.

Although statistics on who comes down with the flu during a normal season are not being calculated in the same way as the novel coronavirus, Dr. Ansorg added, "Is COVID just a fancy influenza? By no means. The reason for that is, we look at the virus, and how infectious it is." 

Dr. Ansorg says that from what his office is seeing, SARS-CoV-2 transmission rates are much higher than the flu.

Andy worked at KCLU from 2016 until 2022.
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