That’s not the only difference though.
For example, another difference is the hospitalization rates that we’ve seen so far.
for H1N1, it looks like it was something like 22 per every 100,000 people.
From 2009-10 on h1n1 hospitalization rates: https://www.cdc.gov/H1N1flu/hosp_deaths_ahdra.htm
For covid-19 it’s something like 1 in every 5-7 people. So far, 15+% of people in all age groups 20 and over have needed hospitalization (closer to 15% for younger, and more like 30+% for older patients). If this keeps spreading at the rate it is right now, our hospitals aren’t going to be able to handle it and a lot more people are going to die because they can’t get the proper care.
we never saw swine flu do what covid19 is doing in 1st world countries like Italy, Spain and the U.S.
Here’s quick chart showing some of the differences between influenza and covid-19: