As hospitals prepare for another winter with COVID, it will be the first one that’s also expecting a high number of flu cases.
UCSF infectious disease expert Dr. Peter Chin-Hong said the convergence of viruses could mean a busy winter season to come.
“The writing on the wall for me is really the fact that we saw earlier flu, and more flu in Australia and New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina and South Africa. It came earlier, it hit hard, and we’re starting to see that in the U.S. right now,” he said.
This includes the Bay Area. To try and ease the blow, the Santa Clara County Public Health Department just launched a new dashboard online and is now offering free flu shots.
“This brand-new dashboard helps the public know how much flu is out there and how to protect themselves. Just as you said, we are seeing higher levels right now than we normally do this time of year,” said Dr. Sarah Rudman of the Santa Clara County Public Health Department.
This comes as a couple new COVID variants are making health experts a little nervous right now.
Doctors are recommending the public to get the COVID booster shots by Halloween to get an increase in antibodies.
Audrey Asistio has more in the video above.
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