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The coronavirus in China could be much deadlier than the flu in America — at least that's what Chinese officials are saying, citing one study.

Chinese officials released data this week that demonstrates COVID-19, also known as the new coronavirus, could be 20 times more lethal than the flu, reports USA Today.

The data gathered from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention shows the overall death rate for the new coronavirus to be 2.3 percent. For context, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports between 14,000-36,000 flu deaths out of an estimated 26 million to 36 million illnesses through Feb. 8. By taking the most extreme totals (36,000 deaths and 36 million illnesses) one comes up with 1 death per 1,000 people who get the flu.

If the data holds true, the coronavirus in China isn't nearly as deadly as another noteworthy epidemic: the SARS outbreak that struck China nearly 20 years ago. The death rate for that outbreak was nearly 10 percent.

In addition to exploring death rate, the Chinese study finds that 80 percent of the new coronavirus cases in China have been mild. Men were also found more likely to die than women, and the sick and elderly were most likely to become infected.