The influenza is spreading fast this 2020 flu season, according to local health officials.
St. Peter's Health is reporting an average of 20 new cases of influenza in the county every day. The hospital says they've had 388 cases since the flu season began.
Lewis and Clark Public Health reported 109 new, local cases of the flu February 2-8, 2020. 92 cases were reported the week before.
In the 2019 flu season, there were in total close to 1,000 cases. St. Pete’s says this flu season started slow but has been speeding up within December-January, 2020.
“We saw those numbers dramatically spike up for December and January. In just those two months alone, we’re pretty close to the numbers we had from last year,” says Jon Scallan, the Director of Quality and Patient Safety at St. Peter’s Health.
Lewis and Clark Public Health and St. Peter's Hospital are offering flu shots. St. Pete’s has imposed visitor restrictions to help stop the spreading of the flu.
