Covid-19 "isn't like the flu," insists Doncaster health chief in move to dispel myths about the condition

Dr Rupert Suckling, director of public health, was asked about comments downplaying how serious the virus is on various pages on social media, including on posts the Doncaster Royal Infirmary’s Facebook page to confirm the latest figures.

Dr Suckling said Covid-19 was more contagious, killed more people and that symptoms were also different.

He said it often starts as a mild illness for around ‘four to five days’ and then for some people be ‘hit by a storm’.

“This isn’t like the flu - it’s more infectious and more people die from it - especially in people over the age of 80 as the mortality rate is around one in 10," Dr Suckling said.

“The symptoms are very different with the three main symptoms of a high fever, continuous cough and the loss of taste and smell.

“We don’t see any of these symptoms in flu - that’s part of the difference but the other thing that we see in Covid-19 is a much greater impact on the lungs in terms of inflammation.

“Covid-19 is often a mild illness for four or five days and in some people it develops and hits like a storm where people seem to deteriorate quite quickly developing a much more serious respiratory illness like viral pneumonia.”

Dr Suckling added that the challenge is Covid-19 is viral and there is no curative medicine, just supportive methods.

Steroids are now helping but this ‘isn’t a bacteria where you can administer antibiotics’, he said.

But Dr Suckling said this ‘isn’t a bacteria where you can administer antibiotics’.

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