Flu Comparison

To estimate how easily a virus spreads, scientists calculate its “basic reproduction number,” or R0 (pronounced R-nought). R0 predicts the number of people who can catch a given bug from a single infected person. The current coronavirus virus is estimated to be at about 2.2 (as of March 22, 2020), meaning a single infected person will infect about 2.2 others, on average. By comparison, the common flu has an R0 of 1.3. So it is more contagious than the common season flu.