Flu activity is on the rise as hospitalizations and emergency room visits for COVID-19 are declining, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently reported.
Some parts of the country are seeing increased flu activity, though it’s still low in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming, lab reports indicate. Levels of flu were stable in other parts of the country.
On the whole, visits to outpatient clinics for flu care expanded by 2.3%. Four regions in the Southeast and West part had slight increases in flu hospitalizations, but the hospitalizations were low in other parts of the country.
When scientists looked at flu samples, 78% were influenza A. Of the subtypes of flu, almost 94% were the 2009 H1N1 virus.
Meanwhile, deaths from COVID-19 increased by 4.2% from the previous week, according to a separate CDC report. The number of deaths from COVID-19 climbed in some states, especially Oregon, the data showed. But emergency room visits dropped by 11.9% compared to the week before, and positive tests slipped by 0.7% to 9.5%.
Hospitalizations for COVID-19 decreased by over 5% compared to the previous week. Levels are low for most of the country, except for parts of the upper Midwest and Northwest US, where several counties are in the moderate range.
The news comes after White House officials met last Wednesday with other health leaders to discuss how to protect older adults in long-term care facilities from infections. The officials want to increase the amount of people getting vaccines, as this is the first fall/winter season with three vaccines available for flu, COVID-19 and RSV. The group discussed obstacles to getting more people vaccinated, which includes communication challenges and worker shortages.
