Influenza and COVID-19 Updates

Author: PDI Healthcare Clinical Team

Categories: Articles, Healthcare & Patient Care March 26, 2024

October marked the start of the 2023-2024 Influenza season. It’s more important than ever to ensure you are protecting your health and the health of your loved ones with proper infection prevention measures. PDI is invested in providing you with the most up-to-date information as it becomes available. Please continue to visit this page for ongoing updates regarding the status of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Influenza virus!

 

U.S. Influenza Activity remains elevated across the country – Week ending March 16, 20241

  • As of March 16, reports of Influenza-Like Illness remains elevated nationally but is decreasing.
  • Approximately 12% of specimens tested are positive for Influenza. Majority of viruses are Influenza A (H1N1) for the season.
  • As of March 16, 3.4% of outpatient visits were for Influenza-Like Illness (ILI), which is above the region-specific baselines.
  • 7.7% of deaths were attributed to pneumonia, influenza, or COVID-19 (PIC), which is above the epidemic threshold of 7.2% for this time period.²
  • 5 pediatric deaths have been reported this week.

U.S. COVID-19 Activity-Data as March 2, 2024³

  • There have been 1,185,413 total deaths in the United States since January 1, 2020.
  • As of March 16, the test positivity rate is 4.6% for the past week, which is a decrease from the previous week.
  • As of March 16, there were 3.23 COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000, which is a decrease from the previous week.

Helpful Prevention Tips:

  • Consider getting your influenza vaccination now
  • Ensure that you’re practicing social distancing measures: mask-wearing, hand hygiene, & enhanced cleaning to protect you and your loved ones. This is helpful in COVID-19 and Influenza prevention.
  • CDC has a dedicated website to provide guidance on COVID-19 vaccination and boosters
    • On December 9, 2022, recommended updated (bivalent) COVID-19 boosters for children ages 5 years and older in the United States.
  • CDC has a community level COVID-19 tracker to assist with helping communities and people decide on local prevention steps

 

1 https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm 

2 https://gis.cdc.gov/grasp/fluview/mortality.html

³ https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#maps_positivity-week