Comparison: 2017-18 Flu Season: 61,000 US Deaths Vs Covid-19 35,500 Deaths: 65+ Seniors Were 83 Percent Of Flu Deaths (50,900, 65+ Flu Deaths)

Will the US and State governments close businesses, order wearing face masks and require social distancing during the next H3N2 Flu epidemic?

From Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), "2017-2018 Estimated Influenza Illnesses, Medical visits, Hospitalizations, and Deaths and Estimated Influenza Illnesses, Medical visits, Hospitalizations, and Deaths Averted by Vaccination in the United States":

CDC estimates that the burden of illness during the 2017–2018 season was high with an estimated 45 million people getting sick with influenza, 21 million people going to a health care provider, 810,000 hospitalizations, and 61,000 deaths from influenza (Table 1). The number of cases of influenza-associated illness that occurred during 2017-2018 was the highest since the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, when an estimated 60 million people were sick with influenza.
***... 67% of hospitalizations occurred in older adults aged ≥65 years. Older adults also accounted for 83% of deaths, highlighting that older adults are particularly vulnerable to severe disease with influenza virus infection.

New York State, which has the bulk of US coronavirus cases, has about 51,000 cumulative hospitalizations in total compared to the past 2017-18 flu season national total of 810,000 hospitalizations.

From STAT, a December 22, 2017, article about the severity of that season's H3N2 flu strain and social gatherings spreading the flu, "Happy holidays? Flu season is raging and family gatherings may make it worse" by Helen Branswell:

That means lots of people will be sick over the holidays; lots already are. And the multi-generational family gatherings that are part and parcel of the holidays will fuel the spread of the nasty virus.***This year could well be a severe year. The viruses causing most of the illness right now are from an influenza A family called H3N2. Those viruses are especially hard on older people and H3 seasons generally are more severe that seasons when H1N1 or influenza B viruses are dominant.

Unfortunately the H3N2 component of the flu shot is an under-performer, often offering protection that is in the 30 percent range. (The other components more commonly offer between 50 percent and 70 percent protection.) So even people who have been vaccinated may find themselves coming down with flu, [Dr. Daniel] Jernigan said.