We’re three days away from Christmas and in the midst of Hanukkah — and holiday travel is in full swing, storm and all.
While the winter storm is causing travel havoc, illnesses are also disrupting holiday plans. Covid is on an upswing locally while, at the same time, numerous other viruses — including but not limited to flu and RSV — are circulating.
From Axios yesterday:
“This year what you’re seeing is a true rebound of flu-like illnesses,” said Manoj Gandhi, senior medical director at Thermo Fisher Scientific. “It’s certainly bad.”
While much has been made of the so-called tripledemic of flu, RSV and COVID, but there’s actually more of a “septo-demic,” said Peter
Hotez, dean at the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, in an interview posted last week with the American Medical Association.
That counts para influenza, rhinovirus, metapneumovirus and pneumococcus as part of the mix, he said.
“They’re working in different combinations and causing a lot of kids to be admitted to the hospital, as well as seniors. This is accounting for a big surge in hospitalizations,” Hotez said.
As of Wednesday, Arlington County was still within CDC’s “low” Covid level, but a flip to “medium” could be imminent. The number of weekly reported cases per 100,000 people is 170, below the “medium” threshold of 200. Weekly Covid hospital admissions per 100,000 people, meanwhile, are at 9.2, just shy of the threshold of 10.
The average daily case rate in Arlington, according to Virginia Dept. of Health data, rose to 63 yesterday amid 110 new reported cases.
Anecdotally, that case rate — which is based on positive cases reported to VDH and excludes at-home testing not otherwise reported to health authorities — feels low. Talk to Arlington residents, especially those with kids in school or daycare, and close Covid contacts abound.
Likewise, many seem to be in the middle of or getting over a cold, a case of the flu, a sinus infection or another ailment. Even among the nominally healthy there are coughs and runny noses.
So today we’re wondering: how many of you are currently sick? And have your holiday plans been disrupted due to illness?