Flu and Covid hospitalizations are up in Mississippi

Fluctuating temperatures have more people visiting healthcare facilities and even raising the number of hospitalizations

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI)- It’s warm outside for December which is not normally the case in many states. Fluctuating temperatures have more people visiting healthcare facilities and even raising the number of hospitalizations.

“With the weather changing there’s just a lot going on; you’ve got sinuses going on, you’ve got the flu dying down and covid ramping back up so we are just seeing an array of all kinds of patients,” said Allegro Family Clinic president Amy Bogue.

Bogue said that over the last two weeks at all of her clinics, they’ve seen decreased flu numbers with 45, and increased covid numbers with 103.

“We just really encourage people to go see their primary care and determine because you need that test to determine what we’re dealing with and then we’d know how to treat it or how long to stay away especially with the holidays coming up. We want to remind people to be mindful and not spread things around,” said Bogue.

The Mississippi State Department of Health held a press conference Thursday afternoon discussing increased hospitalization due to COVID-19 and the flu.

“This is not completely unexpected you know we knew that as we got into the winter months that there certainly was a possibility that we were going to see an increased covid and you also know that we have had an early start to our influenza season,” said Dr. Paul Byers.

Byers said that mask mandates won’t go back into effect, but he’s encouraging people to wear them, especially with the holidays approaching.

Byers and Bogue advise the public to do what they can to stay safe from either disease this holiday season, starting with some good preventative medicine.

“Get your flu vaccine if you haven’t done it if you’re eligible for the bivalent booster vaccine please get it now if you’ve never started the covid vaccine now is a great opportunity these vaccines are available at county health markets,” said Byers.

“I always encourage vitamins It would be great to start now and build up your immune system but go ahead even if it’s as simple as a multivitamin add some zinc in there and just get ready to ramp up for the holidays and being around more people,” said Bogue.

For more information on how to, you can stay protected click here.

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