State hospitals prepare for flu-COVID ‘twindemic’

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March, Connecticut’s flu season was just starting to wind down. But a new flu season is ramping up, prompting concerns of a “twindemic,” in which that contagious respiratory illness co-exists with a spike in COVID-19 cases.

Connecticut doctors and hospital officials said they’re optimistic the measures they took to prepare for COVID-19 surges early in the pandemic will keep them from being overwhelmed if a rapid rise in the illnesses occur at the same time.

“We’re doing everything we can,” said Dr. Daniel Gottschall, vice president of medical affairs for the Fairfield region of Hartford HealthCare and St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport. “We’ve stockpiled our ability to protect staff with PPE. And we do have the ability to test rapidly for flu.”

Victor Morris, Bridgeport Hospital’s chief medical officer, said even if COVID-19 surges again, he doubts the hospital will shut down elective surgeries and outpatient ser vices the way it did at the start of the pandemic. But, he said, that creates a problem. At the peak of COVID, the hospital used nurses and other staff who provide elective procedures to handle pandemicrelated patients.

“We can’t do that again, so it’s go ing to be tough,” Morris said.

Flu and COVID-19 are often compared because they can both affect the respirator y system, and have some overlapping symptoms, including cough and fever. They also can be especially risky for certain groups, including seniors and people with compromised immune systems.

Yet, experts have said COVID-19 is much more contagious and deadlier than the flu. During the last flu season, preliminar y numbers from the state Department of Public Health show there were 79 influenza deaths in the state. Since March, more than 4,500 people in Connecticut have died due to COVID-19.

But the flu is still dangerous enough for experts to hope they don’t hit at the same time.

“We are hopeful that we will not see as rapid of a surge of COVID-19 at Nuvance Health hospitals this winter as we saw in March and April for several main reasons,” said Dr. Diane Kantaros, chief quality officer for Nuvance Health, which includes Norwalk, Danbury, New Milford and Sharon hospitals.

“We can now quickly diagnose people and contain spread to others because testing is more widely available. People are also wearing masks, which they weren’t doing during the first surge, which should further reduce the speed in the community. We are also more aware of and continue to practice safety precautions to reduce the spread of contagious diseases.”

She said these precautions include social distancing, hand hygiene, and quarantining those with symptoms.

“All of these important measures should help to contain both COVID-19 and influenza outbreaks in our communities,” Kantaros said.

Morris said he’s also encouraged by the Southern Hemisphere having a fairly mild flu season this year.

“It was probably because of the masking and social distancing” done to prevent COVID, he said.

That makes him hopeful that COVID precautions in the U.S. could help control the spread of the flu here as well.

Despite their optimism, most health officials said they are preparing for a possible “twindemic.” Kantaros, for instance, said Nuvance is stockpiling supplies, such as medications and personal protective equipment f or st aff.

And, health professionals are again reminding the public to take one of the biggest steps they believe in preventing influenza: Getting a flu shot.

“We’re hyped up and ramped up to take care of respiratory illnesses we always were,” Gottschall said. “But now we’ve taken it to another level.”