State reports no new flu hospitalizations in CT
At a time when more than 1,000 people in Connecticut are hospitalized because of COVID-19, the state Department of Public Health reported no new hospitalization because of the flu.
On Friday, the state reported that, during the week of Jan. 3 to 9 — the latest week for which numbers were available — no one was hospitalized with the illness, bringing the total to 11 flu-related hospitalizations for the season.
In addition, only two more people tested positive for the flu, meaning a total of 34 people have tested positive to date this season. There has only been one flu-related death this season, and there were no new deaths during the week of Jan. 3.
Though Connecticut is deep in a second wave of COVID-19, flu numbers have been unusually low this season. As of Jan. 4, 2020, there had already been 472 people hospitalized with the flu and 1,613 had tested positive for the disease. As of a week later, Jan. 11, 2020, a total of 3,281 people had tested positive for the flu and 643 had been hospitalized.
Experts have attributed this season’s low flu numbers to all the precautions people have been taking to prevent against COVID-19, including wearing masks and using social distancing. Those same measures have been shown to be effective in helping prevent exposure to other respiratory illnesses, including the flu.
Flu activity in the state has been classified as “sporadic,” meaning a small number of laboratory-confirmed flu cases or a single laboratory-confirmed outbreak has been reported, but there is no increase in cases of influenza-like illness.
As of this time last flu season, flu had already been classified as widespread.
Connecticut isn’t alone in its mild flu season. For weeks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have reported low numbers nationwide.
“Seasonal influenza activity in the United States remains lower than usual for this time of year,” read the CDC’s weekly flu report.