New York (WABC) — Emergency rooms are filling up fast, and health officials are seeing adults with both influenza and COVID, and young pediatric patients with RSV.
The annual winter flu season usually doesn’t start until December or January, but it started earlier this year, complicated by the spread of other viruses, and COVID is still protracted.
Last week, 44 states reported high or very high flu activity, according to the CDC.
Thanksgiving gatherings and crowded airports are likely to have spread the respiratory virus more, experts say.
The CDC estimates that there have been at least 78,000 hospitalizations and 4,500 deaths from the flu so far this season.
The dead include at least 14 children.
They said the flu and RSV problem is that the virus puts more restrictions on emergency rooms that are experiencing other emergencies like heart attacks and strokes, so they pay more attention to controlling infections. He says that’s why it’s necessary.
Senator Schumer called on the Department of Human Services on Sunday to be ready to provide emergency rooms with the doctors and nurses they need.
“Our emergency department is almost overwhelmed where we are on the water, but every day, in a 24-hour period, we see where there are typically 200 children. We are basically 300 today. I’ve met people’s children,” Schumer said.
With the holiday season approaching, health officials are urging caution when entering and exiting indoor gatherings.
Get your flu shot now and you’ll be protected before the Christmas and New Year holidays.
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