Hospitals around the state are seeing a rise in respiratory illnesses on par with typical increases in the winter months.
According to statewide wastewater data and hospital admissions data, cases of COVID-19 have been on the rise since December, along with RSV and Norovirus. State Epidemiologist Dr. Suzanne Bornschein also says influenza is newly on the rise and having a later than usual seasonal uptick.
“We’re a little bit higher than last year’s peak, but I’m not sure that we’ve peaked yet,” Bornschein said in an interview Wednesday.
The state has had two deaths so far due to influenza this season. Last year’s flu season had 32 deaths. Bornschein said the flu and other respiratory viruses disproportionately affect the young or the old – people “on the the two poles of life” – and people with suppressed immunity.
As a result of the increase in winter illnesses, Brown University Health has instituted masking requirements in its overburdened hospitals. Dan Shanin, the director of the Anderson Emergency Medical Center at Rhode Island Hospital, is asking potential patients to consider whether they really need to visit the emergency room for their illnesses.
“Hospital occupancy is up, [Emergency Department] arrivals are up,” he said. “As a result, we are seeing an increase in wait time throughout our system and throughout our state.”
Shanin says people with significant shortness of breath or significant chest pains should of course go to the emergency room. But if their symptoms aren’t as severe, he says they should consider visiting an urgent care facility, their primary care doctor, or attend a tele-health appointment.
Because transmission rates are lower in Massachusetts, Brown University Health is not requiring patients to wear masks in its Massachusetts locations.
State officials and private hospitals are also asking residents to practice common sense measures such as masking in public if they feel sick and handwashing.
