The CDC reports 16.3 flu/pneumonia deaths per 100,000 [0]. That's 0.0163 percent.
Johns Hopkins University reports covid-19 has 278.89 deaths per 100,000 - a 1.2% mortality rate in the US [1].
That would put covid-19 at 278.89/16.3 = ~17 times more deadly than the flu. Just because the numbers don't hold for a particular age group doesn't make the aggregate statement false. In fact, it would be misleading to categorize "17 times more deadly" as anything other than "more deadly."
Edit: I made a mistake dividing the percentages the first go around, reporting covid-19 as 73 times more deadly than influenza. I have updated the 3rd paragraph to show the calculations directly.
The JHU site that’s linked is reporting case fatality rates, not infection fatality rates
It’s also not estimating case under-reporting like CDC is
I think jumping straight to misinformation is a bit strong here, but it’s important to make fair comparisons and discuss the context of the stats along with the raw numbers
Johns Hopkins University reports covid-19 has 278.89 deaths per 100,000 - a 1.2% mortality rate in the US [1].
That would put covid-19 at 278.89/16.3 = ~17 times more deadly than the flu. Just because the numbers don't hold for a particular age group doesn't make the aggregate statement false. In fact, it would be misleading to categorize "17 times more deadly" as anything other than "more deadly."
Edit: I made a mistake dividing the percentages the first go around, reporting covid-19 as 73 times more deadly than influenza. I have updated the 3rd paragraph to show the calculations directly.
[0]: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/flu.htm
[1]: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/mortality