Concerning COVID-19, there is no independent arbiter of what is true or untrue. The study of infectious disease is not something as objective as a math problem.
Experts (so-called) have contradicted themselves from the very beginning (for example, originally the World Health Organization said COVID-19 could not be spread by human-to-human contact; Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, originally said masks were not only unnecessary, but would actually contribute to the spreading of the disease.)
These contradictions should be expected. Our understanding of the disease is not static; rather, it is fluid and evolving all the time.
Statistically, according to current information accessible through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other reliable sources, here is what we understand today:
COVID-19 is far less deadly than originally believed. Increased testing and reporting has continued to demonstrate the rate of mortality is generally comparable to influenza.
There are, however, some meaningful differences between COVID-19 and influenza. Young people, for instance, are less likely to be hospitalized by COVID-19 than by influenza. For children aged 0-17, "... COVID-19 cumulative hospitalization rates are much lower than cumulative influenza hospitalization rates..." quoting directly from the CDC.
The lowest rate of hospitalization for COVID-19 in the general population is for people aged 5-17.
The highest rate of hospitalization in the general population is for people aged 65 and older.
The rate of hospitalization for people aged 50-64 is roughly half that of people aged 65 and older.
COVID-19 mortality is highest for people aged 65 and older with the presence of at least one co-morbidity factor such as hypertension, diabetes, compromised immune systems, obesity, COPD, etc. Those with multiple co-morbidity factors were most likely to have negative outcomes (read: die.) Not surprisingly, these are the same people most likely to have negative outcomes from influenza.
Yes, as always, there are anomalies. We can find instances where a 100 year-old smoker beat COVID-19 and a strapping 20 year-old athlete succumbed to it. That is the nature of every disease.