2019-2020 flu season, and COVID-19 response (Chicago: home, elementary schools, university)

[Gemini1963]

I found this interesting - a great by-product of our social distancing (etc.) efforts. Now that I read about it, I do remember that the flu was spreading like wildfire around the elementary schools down where we live (Beverly / South/Southwest suburbs).

https://www.chicagotribune.com/coron...2jq-story.html

an excerpt:
According to data from the Illinois Department of Public Health, the 2019-20 influenza season, now winding down, was particularly harsh. But hospitalizations and other tracking measurements for influenza sharply decreased as news of the COVID-19 pandemic ramped up.

Experts say last month’s good hygiene messaging, like hand-washing and staying home when sick, combined with social distancing pleas from government officials and the statewide stay-at-home order had a dramatic effect on the spread of flu.

“We were seeing hundreds of flu (cases) every week at the hospital, and then we had like five,” said Dr. Emily Landon, chief infectious disease epidemiologist at University of Chicago Medicine. “This was a really bad flu year,” but preventative measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic “cut it short.”

“It probably saved thousands of lives across the country,” she said.

[via chicago]

not surprising, staying inside away from other people means you're less likely to catch all sorts of things. of course, it kind of puts a cramp on living life!