What Covid taught scientists and the public about the flu

(NBC News) For nearly three years, the medical and scientific world scrutinized Covid. That research helped experts gain a new understanding of a much older virus: the flu. On March 3, 2020, the head of the World Health Organization began a daily press briefing exhorting countries around the world to do more to stop the spread of Covid. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’ plea had become a common refrain in the preceding weeks: If aggressive measures were taken, the virus could be contained. That possibility, he said, was one of the key differences between Covid and the flu. “We don’t even talk about containment for seasonal flu. It’s just not possible,” he said.