In the week ending Feb. 1, 8% of ED visits were for the flu, compared to 3.2% in the same week a year prior, according to the CDC’s latest FluView report. Outpatient visits for flu-like illness are also at the highest weekly tally seen since the 2009 swine flu pandemic. Nationwide, 77.3% of inpatient beds were filled in the week ending Feb. 1, including 4.4% by flu patients, HHS data shows.
The recent surge in illnesses has increased the pressure on already strained emergency departments, creating additional capacity management challenges.
“We’re kind of going gangbusters over the past probably two weeks,” Jeffrey Davis, DO, medical director of emergency services at Dignity Health-St. John’s Hospitals, told ABC affiliate KABC Feb. 5. “It is frankly blowing up right now.”
All of Tacoma, Wash.-based MultiCare Health System’s hospitals in the Puget Sound area were at or over capacity after seeing a jump in flu cases over the past week, a spokesperson told CBS affiliate KIRO 7 in a Feb. 7 report. Seattle Children’s Hospital reported a similar trend, saying it had increased staffing and opened additional care spaces to meet the heightened demand.
Meanwhile, on the East Coast, University of Rochester (N.Y.) Medical Center confirmed that its Strong Memorial and Highland Hospitals were operating at more than 120% capacity, NPR affiliate WXXI reported Feb. 5. Like many peers, the hospitals have opened up additional beds and are treating patients in hallways.
In the Midwest, numerous hospitals in the Cincinnati area were forced to divert ambulances after reaching capacity earlier this month, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer. On Feb. 4, nearly every hospital in the downtown area went on diversion. “That was the most I’ve seen in a long time,” Ryan Schwitalski, deputy chief of the North College Hill Fire Department, told the publication.
Alongside increasing staffing levels, opening additional care spaces, coordinating patient transfers and diverting ambulances, many hospitals have also implemented mask rules and visitor restrictions to limit the spread of respiratory viruses.
Health experts warn that seasonal surges in virus cases, paired with lagging vaccination rates, will continue to pose operational challenges for hospitals in the post-COVID-19-era. Still, the current virus activity remains consistent with season trends, with the flu generally peaking in February. Experts suggest heightened flu activity may be tied to lower population immunity, as social distancing, widespread masking and other prevention measures limited flu exposure during the pandemic.
“We’re still seeing some of the aftereffects of covid when people didn’t get those exposures during that year,” Mark Mulligan, MD, chief of infectious disease and director of the vaccine center at NYU Langone Health in New York City, told The Washington Post.