An ‘alarming’ spike in flu and rising Covid-19 cases in CNY worry experts as holidays near - syracuse.com

– Onondaga County has seen the worst outbreak of flu in the state so far this fall just as Covid-19 cases are climbing, and the combination has public health officials worried.

Onondaga County has reported 182 flu cases since the flu season began in early October, far outpacing every other county in the state.

A year ago at this point, Onondaga County had seen just eight cases of flu.

“Having over 100 cases of flu already in November is alarming, especially when you look at the rest of the state,” said Chris Morley, chair of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Upstate Medical University.

The rise in flu, and an increasing number of Covid-19 cases, point in the same direction, Morley said: People are more lax about gatherings and mask wearing than they were a year ago, and both viruses are spreading rapidly.

“The direction of our current COVID-19 numbers and the co-occurrence of a flu outbreak are sort of twin indicators that people are dropping cautionary behavior pretty rapidly,” Morley said.

In the 2019-2020 season, the county confirmed 4,451 cases of flu.

Last season, the county saw just 65 cases.

In Onondaga County, Morley said the numbers of Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations climbed after each holiday late last year – Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.