9 cation will be poisoned and America’s history rewritten away from our nation’s founding principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt made headlines after suing China for the coronavirus and later signing on to a failed lawsuit to overturn the 2020 election results. The Senate aspirant banned mask mandates, resulting in Schmitt filing several lawsuits against school districts across Missouri. With his rejection of public health guidelines amid increased polarization around COVID-19 health measures, Schmitt is determined to secure Missouri’s
conservative, anti-vaccine constituents; he said in an interview with St. Louis Public Radio, “I think if you look and see who’s taking action, that’s certainly a strong suit for [the campaign].” Despite his defeat in a 2006 State House race, Marine veteran Lucas Kunce hopes to win over mostly-Republican Missourians as an economic populist. On his campaign website, Kunce writes, “The same companies that Washington helped ship jobs and opportunities out of our state for decades are thriving, while neighborhoods and towns are being left to rust.” Kunce has also shown to be willing to break from the Democratic party line. He criticized
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s rejection of a ban to prevent members of Congress from trading stocks in an appearance on MSNBC. Kunce has framed himself as a political firebrand, telling Politico in November 2021 that he has the hope of “fundamentally changing who has power in this country.” The upcoming Senate race in Missouri will be one of ten competitive midterm Senate races nationwide that could have their incumbent parties flipped. After Missourians vote for their preferred candidates for the Senate this year on Aug. 2, voters will elect one of Missouri’s Senators on Nov. 8.
Explainer: COVID vs. the Flu Both illnesses carry similar symptoms and characteristics, so what are the differences between the two?
RILEY KERLEY | REPORTER
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oth illnesses can cause fever, cough, body aches and sometimes vomiting and diarrhea. Both can result in pneumonia. Both the flu and COVID-19 can be asymptomatic, mild, severe or even fatal. Both spread in similar ways. But despite their shared characteristics, COVID-19 and the flu are not the same. For both COVID and the flu, droplets or smaller virus particulates from a sick person can transmit the virus to other people nearby. The smallest particles may linger in the air, and another person can inhale them and become infected. For the flu, people can touch a surface with the virus on it, and then transfer the germs to themselves by touching their face. People infected with the coronavirus or the flu may not even realize they are sick for several days, and during that time can unknowingly spread the disease to others before they even feel sick. With that information, there are ways to prevent these illnesses. In most cases, serious cases of COVID can result in death. Both the flu and COVID can be prevented by vaccines. In addition, mask-wearing, thorough hand washing, coughing into the crook of the elbow, staying home when sick and limiting contact with people who are infected are effective and efficient safety precautions. Keeping a physical distance of 6 feet or more limits the spread of COVID-19 and the flu in
communities and large group gatherings. COVID-19 was caused by the 2019 coronavirus, also known as SARS-CoV-2. There are different SARS-CoV-2 variants that have some differences in how severe or transmissible they are. Many people infected with the coronavirus have only mild symptoms or do not feel sick at all, but they can still infect other people with the coronavirus. The flu is caused by the influenza virus. There are two main types of influenza virus called influenza A and influenza B. Different strains of influenza A and B emerge and circulate each year. The flu does not typically affect a person’s sense of smell or taste like COVID does, although it has many symptoms similar to COVID-19. However, during the 1918 influenza pandemic, a certain influenza strain caused many people to lose their sense of taste or smell. Both illnesses have a vaccine that you can receive to help, prevent and lessen your symptoms of the two viruses. The flu vaccine is effective in preventing some of the most dangerous types or to reduce the severity or duration of the flu. The flu vaccine is reformulated every year in anticipation of the influenza strains that are expected to circulate. It is very important to get vaccinated for the flu this year. The development of complications for COVID induce long-term damage to the lungs,
heart, kidneys, brain and other organs and a variety of long-lasting symptoms. Influenza complications can include inflammation of the heart (myocarditis), brain (encephalitis) or muscles (myositis, rhabdomyolysis), and multi-organ failure. Secondary bacterial infections, particularly pneumonia, can occur following a bout of influenza infection. During the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, there were 50 million deaths and around 500 million cases. To date we have had over 330 million cases and 5.5 million deaths of COVID-19. The numbers of COVID deaths and cases continue to go up every day. The newest strain of Omicron began on Nov. 24, 2021, a new variant of SARS-CoV-2, B.1.1.529, was reported to the World Health Organization. The new variant was first detected in specimens collected on Nov. 11, 2021, in Botswana and on Nov. 14, 2021, in South Africa. The world enters its third year in the COVID-19 pandemic. The Spanish flu pandemic, however, lasted only two years, and came in three different waves. The year of 2022 is unknown as of yet. It’s unclear if the pandemic will last for a third full year, how many more lives will be lost, how many more patients will be admitted to the ICU and how many more people will lose their loved ones.
