Vox – We don’t need people with the (largely preventable) flu flooding our hospitals in a pandemic….How overlapping Covid-19 and flu symptoms are going to make this season very confusing. As US Surgeon General Jerome Adams noted in a radio interview earlier this month, “This is the most important flu season that we’ve faced, I’d say, in my lifetime.” Beyond pushing hospitalization capacity, flu season also has the potential to overwhelm clinics and testing resources. “Both Covid-19 and the flu are contagious respiratory illnesses that present with similar symptoms,” Libby Richards, who teaches nursing at Purdue University and studies individual health behavior, wrote to Vox in an email…It can be hard to tell the difference between Covid-19, flu, and cold symptoms — and some Covid-19 carriers never show any symptoms at all..”

• This article includes a clear guide to help compare the three illnesses, and see a doctor if you think you could have Covid-19.