COVID case counts trending the wrong way
Yumans need to be proactive, especially with flu season underway
I don’t like the way the COVID case counts are trending in Yuma County.
Have you been watching the numbers? Here’s a brief look from Oct. 31-Nov. 6:
• Nov. 6: 51 new cases
• Nov. 5: 118 new cases and 1 death
Nov. 4: 30 new cases and 1 death
• Nov. 3: 30 new cases and 1 death
• Nov. 2: 47 new cases
• Nov. 1: 64 new cases
• Oct. 31: 133 new cases and 4 deaths
It’s worrisome that we rounded out October with 133 new cases, and saw a second triple digit day on Nov. 5. Also compounding the matter is the fact that we are entering cold and flu season.
The common cold, the flu and COVID-19 are all highly contagious, and share some similar symptoms.
I turned to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website to try to sort out the differences.
When it comes to the flu and COVID, symptoms include cough, fever, chills, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headaches and fatigue. Both can also cause vomiting and diarrhea, but for the flu, those specific symptoms are more often seen in children than adults.
COVID-19 can cause loss of taste or smell, and seems to cause more serious illnesses in some people.
Common cold symptoms can include a runny or stuffy nose, sneezing, and sore throat. However, fever is not a cold symptom. And when it comes to colds, the symptoms are usually milder, and don’t last as long.
Experts caution that the only way to know what you have for sure is to get tested.
And there’s a reason to do this. If you have the flu, you can be treated with antiviral medications to help ease your symptoms and speed your recovery.
Right now though, the concern is that case count spikes – the flu, COVID or both – could overwhelm our medical resources, both in Yuma County and across the nation.
In Denver, for example, COVID hospitalizations have skyrocketed, the Denver Post reports, and on Friday, the city announced a 10 p.m. curfew to try to curtail any further infections. Officials noted that if COVID continues to spread at its current pace there, hospitals could exceed ICU capacities by late December.
We can and should take a lesson from Denver right now.
It’s critical, now more than ever, that you take steps and precautions to protect yourself.
Get your flu shot. Wear your mask and social distance. And Yuma, whatever you do … if you don’t feel good, please stay home.
This isn’t the time to risk spreading germs around the community.
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