Does New COVID bear an uncanny resemblance to influenza viruses, by any chance?

Even if it is a mutant strain of coronavirus, it could be very good news. The more transmissible and less severe a virus is, the faster it spreads, outcompeting the more serious strains. Mutating to being milder means more people catch it, but you don't get more deaths, and that strain of COVID evolved from a bad cold to a normal cold.