Situation Report | November 9, 2020
The state Department of Health (DOH) has posted the first of its Weekly Influenza Surveillance Reports, for the week ending October 31, 2020, on the Health Commerce System.
The Report found:
- Influenza activity level was categorized as geographically “sporadic” (small numbers of lab-confirmed cases of influenza reported). This is the fifth consecutive week that sporadic activity has been reported.
- The percent of patient visits for influenza-like illness by certain providers was 0.88 percent, below the regional baseline of 3.30 percent.
- The number of patients hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed influenza was 17 — a 42 percent increase over last week.
- There were no influenza-associated pediatric deaths reported this week. There have been no influenza-associated pediatric deaths reported this season.
DOH recommends flu vaccine “for almost everyone 6 months and older,” noting that influenza may be spreading alongside COVID-19. “For that reason, getting a flu shot will be more important than ever to help people stay healthy and to ease the burden on our health care system.”