State, local healthcare providers brace for upcoming flu season amid COVID-19 concerns

By LYNETTE SOWELL 

Cove Leader-Press 

As the tracking of numbers for the COVID-19 pandemic continues, another season opened as of Oct. 1: flu season, a time during which healthcare providers urge people to get their flu shots. The flu season typically runs through May.

“While it may seem too simple or over-stated, the best practice for staying healthy and avoiding viruses is hand washing and covering your mouth/nose when you sneeze or cough,” said Dominique Kimble, a family nurse practitioner at AdventHealth’s Family Medicine Clinic in Copperas Cove. “Please remember it is also important to stay home if you’re sick, avoiding large crowds, continue to practice healthy habits. Germs are spread in various ways – touching and airborne – and these are helpful practices to prevent exposure to the flu.” 

Kimble said that COVID-19 does add a layer of complexity to the upcoming flu season and therefore it’s vital to take precautions and prevention very seriously. 

“Getting a flu vaccine is important in the fight against this virus. The flu vaccine is not a live virus, so people cannot contract the flu from the vaccine. Patients might experience tenderness to the injection site and slight body aches following an injection,” Kimble said. “It takes two weeks to become fully effective and has an efficacy of six months. Getting a flu shot is not 100% guarantee against the flu, however, it does help. Sometimes the flu strain that we have is not the strain for which the vaccine was created – it’s not a definite science. It’s essential to continue hand washing and face covering.”

Kimble also recommends continuing to clean and sanitize your home during flu season.

“Remember to clean and disinfect surfaces and frequently touched objects, wash hands for 20 seconds with soap and warm water, manage stress, Get plenty of rest, exercise  and eat a healthy diet to boost your immune system. Living a healthy lifestyle is a great way to help avoid illness.”

Influenza outlook for 2020 in the U.S.: two scenarios

Katelyn Jetelina, MPH, PhD, an assistant professor at the University of Texas School of Public Health, weighed in on two different scenarios that could happen in the United States during flu season.

The UT School of Public Health maintains the website, texaspandemic.org, where they “translate” public health information about the COVID-19 pandemic into layperson’s terms. 

“There are two hypotheses regarding what will happen this Fall: 1) flu season will be, essentially, non-existent because people are wearing masks and social distancing (due to COVID19); or 2) the combination of flu and COVID19 epidemics will add strains to the healthcare system that we’ve never seen before,” Jetelina wrote. 

She points to the 2020 flu season which has already taken place in the Southern Hemisphere, which experiences winter from June through September, with the flu season peaking in August for that part of the world. 

“Every year, we use this to our advantage to predict the US flu season. So, now that their season is over, what did it look like – and specifically in Australia, Chile, and South Africa?” 

Jetelina noted that very little flu activity occurred, based on a paper published on Sept. 18 of this year by Sonja J. Olsen, PhD1; Eduardo Azziz-Baumgartner, MD1; Alicia P. Budd, MPH1; Lynnette Brammer, MPH1; Sheena Sullivan, PhD2; Rodrigo Fasce Pineda, MS3; Cheryl Cohen, MD4,5; and Alicia M. Fry, MD1, called “Decreased Influenza Activity During the COVID-19 Pandemic — United States, Australia, Chile, and South Africa, 2020.”

In 2020, Australia, Chile and South Africa had 0.06 percent positive flu tests, or 51 out of 83,30). 

For a comparison, from 2017-2019, these countries had 13.7 percent positive flu tests, or 24,512 out of 178,690.

“We are seeing similar trends during the non-flu season in the U.S,” wrote Dr. Jetelina. “Typically, during the non-season we have about 1-2% of positive flu tests. This year we have  0.2% positive flu tests…So, it looks like hypothesis #1 is what we can expect this fall. Thanks to the community mitigation measures to reduce COVID-19, we will also reduce flu transmission. We have to keep it up though (and go get your flu shots!) or hypothesis #2 will take over.”

Total COVID-19 numbers rise, active cases fluctuate 

COVID-19 cases in Coryell County reached 710 on Tuesday, with 118 of those cases being active. That is up from 698 on Monday, with 119 active cases. While the total number rises, the active cases in the county have fluctuated up and down. 

On Monday, the City of Copperas Cove issued its weekly update, with the total cases in the city standing at 383, up 14 from last week. Active cases stand at 58, down by one case from the prior week. 

The Copperas Cove Independent School District had two active cases among students and staff as of Tuesday, Oct. 6, to include one new case of a student at Copperas Cove High School, and one active student case at Williams Ledger Elementary. 

Active cases in the state of Texas are at 70,813, with 777,556 cases statewide, which include 16,230 fatalities and an additional 3,776 cases. 

Hospitalizations statewide are at 3,519, up from 3,192 on Sunday afternoon. The number of hospitalizations has not been below 3,000 since June 18, and after a spike of 10,893 on July 22, has hovered above 3,000 since Sept. 1. 

Locally, there are 30 hospitalized for COVID-19 in area hospitals in Bell, Coryell, Lampasas, Hamilton, Mills, and Milam Counties, making up 3.7 percent of local hospitalizations. The statewide hospitalizations for COVID-19 make up 7.11 percent of total hospitalizations.

The state’s seven-day testing positivity rate is up a bit at 7.48 percent. 

Governor Abbott: Healthcare providers must sign up to provide COVID-19 vaccination 

Even as flu season “opens,” Governor Greg Abbott on Wednesday issued a press release encouraging Texas health care providers to enroll in the Texas Department of State Health Services’ Immunization Program to be eligible to administer COVID-19 vaccines once they are available. 

“While potential COVID-19 vaccines continue to undergo clinical trials, the State of Texas is taking a proactive approach to ensure the vaccine is distributed as quickly as possible once available,” said Governor Abbott. “Providing Texans with access to a voluntary vaccine and efficiently administering the immunization will be essential to containing COVID-19 and protecting the health of our communities. I urge health care providers across the state to sign up for DSHS’ Immunization Program so they are prepared to administer the COVID-vaccine to Texans who choose to be immunized.” 

Under federal guidelines, providers who choose to participate must agree to administer vaccine regardless of a recipient’s ability to pay, provide a vaccination record to each recipient, store doses of vaccine under the proper conditions, and report the number of doses received and used. Any vaccine must be authorized by the Food and Drug Administration before it can be distributed in the United States. 

COVID-19 cases in Central Texas*

Bell County 369 active cases (5,643 total)  

Burnet County 85 active cases (785 total)

Coryell County 118 active cases (710 total)

• Copperas Cove (city) 58 active cases (383 total) 
• TDCJ in Coryell Co 20 active cases (1,131 total)

Lampasas County 23 active cases (352 total)

McLennan County 447 active cases (8,642 total)

Williamson County 202 active cases (8,861 total)

*As of press time Thursday, numbers from Texas DSHS, City of Copperas Cove, Coryell County, TDCJ COVID-19 dashboard, Bell County Public Health District