Article from January 5, 2020: Unusual flu season strikes in Louisiana; second peak to come

So Louisiana is one of the states featured in the current pandemic panic. A recent article states the following about expected deaths in Louisiana due to COVID-19:

New Orleans Area Has Worst Coronavirus Death Rate in U.S.

He said modeling suggests about 1,834 people in Louisiana could ultimately die, based on White House projections that the U.S. could see 100,000 to 240,000 deaths.

[link to www.wsj.com (secure)]

So while no one likes to read about death, it is inevitable that we will all face it sooner or later. Seeing this number, 1834, as the expected death toll for the state of Louisiana was quite shocking to me. It seems extremely low considering that Louisiana has a population of approximately 4.6 million ( [link to www.census.gov (secure)]

So I wondered how many people die of the flu in Louisiana every flu season. I'm still looking for those numbers, but in the meantime I found this article dated January 5, 2020:

Unusual flu season strikes in Louisiana; second peak to come

Data shows Louisiana is one of the nation’s top 34 states with high flu activity.

There’s no one reason to pinpoint for those high numbers. Germs travel fast especially when sick people are in the same space.

“It could be travel, you know. You go to the airport, you get on the plane, you go on vacation, you go to Disney World, you get exposed to people all over the world and the flu that’s currently hitting other parts of the world [and] all of a sudden [it] gets brought back home," said Dr. Flechas.

If you start noticing symptoms like high fever, headaches, and severe body aches with a dry cough it’s time to see a doctor.

“If you’re having chest pain, if you’re having any respiratory distress then absolutely go," said Dr. Flechas. "Because you never know, we might tell you it’s just the flu, and you will need bed rest and fluids. Or we may say, ‘Wow you’ve got a secondary infection. There’s some bronchitis, some pneumonia.' So I always would rather be safe and have you seen.”

[link to www.wafb.com (secure)]

Just what in the world is going on here? This pandemic paranoia is not adding up.