The winter COVID-and-flu season is ramping up in California and nationwide, with doctors and other experts saying the worst of the respiratory illness season is still to come. This winter, by contrast, there are far fewer critically ill COVID-19 patients requiring intensive hospital care, even though plenty of people are sick. Since Oct. 1, the CDC has reported an average of about 1,400 COVID-19 deaths a week nationally. It’s important that people take steps to limit their risk of getting or developing severe complications from COVID-19, flu or other viral illnesses, doctors say. Those include getting a fresh COVID-19 and flu vaccine this winter, which many people have not yet done.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 06, 2024 20:46 UTC