A year’s worth of respiratory virus data for Alberta reveals, once again, COVID-19 is far deadlier than the flu.

The death toll due to the two illnesses, combined, topped 900 over the past year.

More than four times as many Albertans died due to COVID compared to influenza.

Alberta’s respiratory dashboard shows flu was responsible for 177 deaths while 732 people died of COVID-19 (between Aug. 27, 2023, and Aug. 24, 2024).

“This is continual evidence that COVID is not just another flu,” said Craig Jenne, professor in the department of microbiology, immunology and infectious diseases at the University of Calgary, noting influenza is not a benign virus.