According to government data, 24,000 to 62,000 flu-related deaths happen in the U.S. each year. Even the president has acknowledged as much.

In February, he said at a news conference: “The flu, in our country, kills from 25,000 people to 69,000 people a year. That was shocking to me.”

Earlier that month, according to the recent book by Bob Woodward, the president described the coronavirus as “more deadly than even your strenuous flus.”