In light of a meeting held by White House officials advocating for the protection of older adults in long-term care facilities from infections, a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) discusses the rise of flu activity and the decline of COVID-19 hospitalizations over the past month.

Although levels of flu were stable in other parts of the country, lab reports indicate that some areas are seeing increased flu activity, with visits to outpatient clinics for flu care expanding by 2.3%, and four regions in the Southeast and West are also seeing slight increases in flu hospitalizations. The main strains found comprised 78% influenza A, with the subtypes of flu showing 94% being the 2009 H1N1 virus.

Opposingly, COVID-19-related emergency room visits dropped by 11.9% compared to the week before, and positive tests decreased by 0.7% to 9.5%, with hospitalizations for COVID-19 decreasing by over 5%. Unfortunately, deaths from COVID-19 increased by 4.2% from the previous week.

“This is the first fall/winter season with three vaccines available for flu: COVID-19 and RSV. Specialty RX encourages all eligible residents of skilled nursing facilities to take these vaccines and allow for a safer and healthier year.” Saba Ansari, VP of Clinical Services