Fact check: Has Norway classified COVID as influenza?

There are a number of social media claims circulating that suggest Norway has reclassified COVID-19 as the same disease as the flu. But that doesn’t seem to be the case.

The Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH / FHI) told Newsweek the claims were false.

In fact, the institute said the rumor came from an interview Geir Bukholm, deputy director of NIPH, had with Norwegian media VG.

• “We are now in a new phase where we have to look at the coronavirus as one of many respiratory illnesses with seasonal variations,” Bukholm said, according to VG’s report.
• VG’s report suggests that “the coronavirus is thus joining the ranks of other respiratory illnesses such as the common cold and the seasonal flu.”

But the organization told Newsweek that COVID-19 is a different disease and not the same as the flu

• “It is not correct that the Norwegian Institute of Public Health claimed that ‘COVID-19 is no more dangerous than regular flu”. This statement is probably a misinterpretation of this interview in (VG) “, a representative of the institute told Newsweek.
• “Our position, as stated in the press article, is that at this point in the pandemic we need to start approaching COVID-19 as one of the many respiratory diseases circulating with seasonal variations.
• “This means that the control measures that will be applicable for various respiratory diseases will require the same level of societal preparation. This doesn’t mean that coronavirus disease and seasonal flu are similar. “

Since the start of the pandemic, there have been rumors that COVID-19 and the flu are similar viruses. In fact, former President Donald Trump has said “we have learned to live” with the coronavirus, claiming that it is “much less fatal” than the flu in “most people”.

• But this is not the case. In one year, influenza often causes between 290,000 and 650,000 deaths among 1 billion cases per year. The coronavirus has killed 4 million people among 233 million cases in 18 months, showing that the virus is spreading faster and killing more people, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.