2019 coronavirus is 20 times deadlier than the seasonal flu: Study

By Cassidy Morrison

Published February 18, 2020 6:20pm ET

2019 coronavirus is 20 times deadlier than the seasonal flu: Study — Medical workers wearing personal protective equipment wheel bodies to a refrigerated trailer serving as a makeshift morgue at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, Monday, April 6, 2020, in New York. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. | (John Minchillo/AP)

The 2019 coronavirus is about 20 times more deadly than the common flu, according to new reporting from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Chinese CDC puts the mortality rate of the coronavirus at about 2.3%, after finding that out of 44,672 cases confirmed in China, 1,023 had died by Feb. 11. The rate of seasonal flu fatalities, in comparison, hovers around 0.1%.