The Non-Existent Flu Cases of 2020

In 2020, the United States faced the shock of a new pandemic — but also a baffling medical mystery: the disappearance of the seasonal flu. While COVID-19 cases dominated headlines and hospital beds, flu diagnoses plummeted to “too low to estimate,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with later estimates at a mere 2000.

That’s not just a statistical anomaly — it’s a statistical impossibility. From an estimated 48 million cases in 2019–2020, the flu dropped to 2000 cases, statistically zero, in 2020–2021, amounting to a 99.999998% decrease — or put another way, a nearly 10 million percent drop. In the realm of infectious disease, that kind of disappearance doesn’t happen without a force far greater than a virus. In this case, that force may have been government incentives, diagnostic bias, and political opportunity.

Side-by-Side Comparison: Flu vs. COVID-19 (and Total Deaths)

Here is a year-by-year comparison of flu and COVID-19 cases in the U.S., alongside total recorded deaths from all causes:

Year	Flu Cases	COVID-19 Cases	Total U.S. Deaths
2015–16	24 million	N/A	2.7 million
2016–17	29 million	N/A	2.7 million
2017–18	45 million	N/A	2.8 million
2018–19	29 million	N/A	2.8 million
2019–20	48 million	N/A	2.9 million
2020–21	2000	~20 million	3.4 million
2021–22	11 million	~35 million	3.5 million
2022–23	31 million	~25 million	3.3 million
2023–24	40 million	~15 million	3.3 million

If mask mandates, social distancing, and lockdowns truly drove flu cases to extinction in 2020, why did COVID-19 — transmitted in much the same way — surge to 20 million cases that same year? It’s a paradox that challenges the public narrative.

Follow the Money: Financial Incentives for COVID Diagnosis

Under the CARES Act, hospitals received a 20% bonus payment from Medicare for COVID-19 as the cause of death even without a lab-confirmed test — if the diagnosis was “presumed.”

Dr. Scott Jensen, a physician and former Minnesota senator, explained in a 2020 interview, a special incentive given to hospitals: “Right now, Medicare has determined that if you have a COVID-19 admission to the hospital, you get $13,000. If that patient goes on a ventilator, you get $39,000.”

Even without malice, human systems respond to incentives. Hospitals, stretched to the brink and under administrative pressure, had clear financial reasons to code ambiguously respiratory cases such as COVID. The result? Flu diagnoses plummeted; COVID statistics ballooned.

A “Perfect Storm” Convergence

Historians may look back and label 2020 a “perfect storm” convergence of viral emergence, bureaucratic overreach, financial opportunism, and media-driven fear. The COVID-19 diagnosis wasn’t always wrong — but it was often preferred, because it brought funding, media coverage, and regulatory attention.

Into this maelstrom stepped the Biden campaign — and later, the Biden administration. From their perspective, the pandemic was not just a crisis; it was an opportunity to centralize authority, impose sweeping mandates, and frame their political opponents as anti-science.

Vaccine passports, mask mandates, and “non-essential business” closures were implemented with minimal congressional oversight. Unelected bureaucrats effectively became lawgivers overnight. And with a compliant media ecosystem, anyone questioning the sudden disappearance of the flu — or the overreporting of COVID — was dismissed as a conspiracy theorist.

But as total U.S. deaths jumped from 2.9 million in 2019 to 3.4 million in 2020, and yet flu deaths were negligible, the public was expected to suspend disbelief. It was COVID. Everything was COVID. Even if someone had flu-like symptoms, pneumonia, or comorbidities, the incentives were aligned to make it COVID.

Historical Echoes: Manufactured Consent

This isn’t the first time propaganda has masqueraded public safety. Consider the run-up to the Iraq War in 2003. The case for weapons of mass destruction was presented with urgency and certainty. Dissenters were silenced. Only years later did the facts catch up, and the nation realized the truth had been shaped — if not outright twisted.

Similarly, many Americans now wonder: Was the flu hijacked by COVID hysteria? Were financial incentives allowed to warp scientific integrity? And were those who asked these questions unjustly shamed into silence?

Not a Conspiracy — Just a System That Rewarded One Narrative

 This isn’t a wild theory. It’s a demand for accountability. It’s a reminder that statistics are not immune to distortion — especially when power, money, and politics converge.

COVID-19 was real. So is the flu. But the statistical vanishing act of influenza in 2020 was not a miracle of masking or sanitizer — it was the product of an incentivized and politicized healthcare environment.

That is not a conspiracy. It’s a well-documented reality that deserves scrutiny.

Conservatives who were skeptical of how the Biden administration presented the ‘facts’ are now clearly vindicated. But what will historians report was the audio volume level of the mainstream news media reporting on this vital topic? Crickets.

Jerry McGlothlin is a writer, media consultant, and CEO of Special Guests Publicity, a firm specializing in booking guests on major media platforms. With decades of experience in communications, he focuses on exploring political and societal issues.

Image: OpenClipArt/Liftarn

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