At the first mid-day COVID-19 briefing in quite some time—a sign of the lessening impact of the years-long pandemic—state health officials urged Minnesotans once again to understand the impact that the combination of seasonal flu, COVID-19, and RSV continue to have on the state’s hospital system.
“Those three things together have driven up the need for urgent care and hospital services in particular, although it also impacting other parts of the healthcare system, like primary care, home care, group homes and the like,” said Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm. “But what this means is very long waits for care, and very long hours for our healthcare workers.”
Health officials report a slight dip in COVID, influenza, and RSV cases overall, they said these all remain higher than normal. They once again urged vaccination and masking as keys to keeping people out of hospitals.
“Too often, we talk about these illnesses and our decisions about how to deal with the risks they pose as purely personal choices,” said Malcolm. “But I think if we’ve learned one thing these last few years, it’s that our choices do have power and impact on the broader community.”
State Epidemiologist Dr. Ruth Lynfield said this year’s seasonal flu vaccine is a good match to help fight the strain that has been going around, and a vaccination could help make it safer for people to gather for the holidays in just a couple of weeks.
“Though you may be gathering sooner than two weeks, please get it,” said Dr. Lynfield.
