Protect yourself heading into new year
With 2024 comes big hopes for a great year. It also comes with an old nemesis still lying around: COVID-19.
The dangerous virus is still with us and causing health concerns across the region, state and country.
Not only do we have to still worry about COVID, cases of the flu and respiratory syncytial virus or RSV, are also up.
According to information from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 29,000 people were admitted with COVID during the week ending Dec. 23.
Another 15,000 were admitted with the flu, and many more with respiratory syncytial virus or RSV.
The CDC data also shows that levels of COVID-19 in wastewater, a good indicator of how much COVID is active in a community, are higher than they were last year across the country.
Also weekly emergency department visits rose 12 percent, and hospitalizations jumped about 17 percent in the most recent week. For the past four years, we’ve had to deal with COVID, but this year flu cases are also way up, giving us yet another concern when it comes to our respiratory health.
CDC estimates show that there have been more than 7 million illnesses, 73,000 hospitalizations and 4,500 deaths related to the flu this season, and multiple indicators are high and rising.
Hospitalization rates for RSV also remain high.
So now we have a triple-header to deal with: COVID, flu and RSV.
With such threats prominent, it only makes sense to continue taking the precautions we’ve all become used to over the past four years.
That primarily includes, wearing a mask in public, getting vaccinated, staying home when sick and washing hands.
Vaccines remain the best way to protect yourself, yet not everyone seems to be on board, which is concerning.
According to CDC data, only 19 percent of adults and 8 percent of children have gotten the latest COVID-19 vaccine, and 17 percent of adults 60 and older have gotten the new RSV vaccine.
Less than half of adults and children have gotten the flu vaccine this season.
Nationally, more than 230 U.S. counties were considered to have “high” levels of COVID-19 hospital admissions, and nearly 1,000 other counties have “medium” COVID-19 hospital admission levels.
Locally, virus rates are up a bit, but not yet too alarming, but that could change quickly. Plus, we don’t really know the true amount of people with COVID in our region because many had simply stopped reporting their illness.
But we’ve all heard the anecdotes in recent weeks of people we know getting COVID and the virus spreading through workplaces and such.
With that, we cannot again emphasize enough for people to take care of themselves. Wearing a mask when in crowded places really isn’t that big a deal and it is something we are all used to by now.
Also, please talk to your healthcare provider about getting vaccinated for not just COVID, but the flu and RSV.
We just started 2024 and it would be great if we could all have a healthy new year together.
Cullman Times. January 4, 2024.