BUTTE COUNTY, Calif. - As the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise, the number of flu cases is down across the United States and here at home. 

"So far flu cases in Butte County are very low, just like C.D.C is reporting for the nation as a whole. "Our surveillance data we have is showing that flu is just not circulating in Butte County," said Butte County Public Health Officer, Dr. Robert Bernstein. 

The C.D.C. says there were approximately 22,000 deaths caused by the flu during the 2019/2020 flu season. 

That number is lower than the more than 374,000 deaths we saw from the coronavirus.

According to data from the CDC, the number of deaths related to the flu has been decreasing over the past few years.

There were approximately 61,000 deaths during the 2017- 2018 flu season, but that number went down to approximately 34,000 during the 2018 to 2019 flu season. 

The chart also shows that the number of hospitalizations has also been going down over the past few years. 

During the 2017-2018 flu season, the number of hospitalizations caused by the flu was approximately 810,000.

But that number went down to 490,000 hospitalizations during 2018-2019.

If we look at last year's numbers, that total number of people hospitalized went down to 400,000.

"Those flu numbers would have been much less if people had gotten their vaccinations. Of course, the Covid-19 vaccine was not available in 2020 so it's not surprising that the spread of the covid infection has been as severe as it has been," added Dr. Bernstein. 

Even though the number of deaths from the flu is lower than the coronavirus,  we still saw 38 million flu cases compared to 22 million coronavirus cases in 2020. 

Dr. Bernstein adds that the number of coronavirus cases may have been higher if we would have had more testing capabilities when the pandemic first started.