State: Only 11 new flu cases in past week

Last week, 11 more people tested positive for the flu in Connecticut, but numbers remain much lower than normal this season.

According to the latest data from the state Department

of Public Health, as of Feb. 20, 69 people had tested positive for the flu in Connecticut, up from 58 the week before. There were no new flu-associated hospitalizations or deaths, which has been the case for several weeks.

Typically, flu in Connecticut

begins in mid-fall and peaks around January or February. But this year has been an uncharacteristically quiet one for the contagious respiratory illness.

To compare, last year, as of Feb. 15, there had already been 1,909 flu-related hospitalizations, 49 deaths and 9,210 people who had tested positive for the flu. Health experts have said that many of the measures used to control the COVID-19 pandemic — including mask-wearing and social distancing — have helped to keep flu

cases low.

For the past several weeks, flu activity in the state has been classified as sporadic, meaning that a small number of laboratory-confirmed flu cases or a single laboratory-confirmed outbreak has been reported, but no increase in cases of influenza-like illness.

Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention report that flu activity nationwide has been quieter than usual this year.

“Flu activity is unusually low at this time but may increase in the coming months,” the CDC stated in its weekly FluView report. “An annual flu vaccine is the best way to protect against flu and its potentially serious complications.”