Multiple cases of “flurona,” or COVID-19 combined with this year’s flu, have now been reported in the United States as the Omicron variant surge strikes as influenza spreads.
For example, In North Carolina (emphasis mine).
Ken Vaughn, a North Carolina father of two, said that his 7-year-old son had an irritated throat after Christmas, so they took him to the doctor.”They gave him a COVID swab, a flu swab, and then they did a second COVID swab in case the quick test came back negative,” Vaughn told Fox News Digital.”Well, they called back in 30 minutes and said, ‘Yeah, it’s COVID and it’s flu B.’ And they said they had never seen it before.”…Vaughn’s son, who had just received his second dose of the Pfizer vaccine a month earlier was on bed rest for two days with a 102-degree fever, but he’s feeling like himself again after a week.
Cases have also been reported in Mississippi and Los Angeles.
The case, involving a teenager, was detected four days ago at a testing site near the Getty Center in Brentwood, said Steve Farzam, chief operating officer of 911 COVID Testing. The teen, who tested positive for both influenza and COVID, had just returned from a family vacation in Mexico.“This is the first one that we’re aware of,” Farzam said. “In and of itself, it’s not overly concerning; however, it is concerning and can be problematic for someone who has preexisting medical conditions, anyone who is immunocompromised.”…In an email, the L.A. County Department of Public Health said that “concurrent infection with more than one respiratory virus is exceedingly common and there is no reason to expect that SARS-CoV-2 should be an exception to this rule.”“We are not tracking these occurrences systematically and cannot tell you how frequently they have occurred,” health officials said in a statement.
If there is ever a return to pre-COVID normalcy, California will likely be the last place on Earth to experience it. The state has now extended its mask mandate for another month.
California has extended its indoor mask mandate through February 15 amid a surge in COVID-19 cases and the omicron variant.State Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly announced the one-month extension on Wednesday.The extended mandate announcement comes just days after a report that suggested cloth masks are ineffective against the omicron variant of COVID-19.
And in Los Angeles, employers will now have to supply employees medical-grade masks or N95 respirators.
As cases continue to surge as a result of the increased circulation of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, Public Health has modified its Health Officer Order to include additional safety measures to reduce transmission risks knowing that vaccinations alone are not sufficient to prevent spread of Omicron.As soon as possible, but no later than January 17th, employers are required to provide their employees who work indoors in close contact with others with well-fitting medical grade masks, surgical masks, or higher-level respirators, such as N95 or KN95 masks. These upgraded masks are better at blocking virus particles from going through the mask.
This policy is going to fail for many of the same reasons the cloth masks didn’t work (i.e., they are not fitted properly, employees will pull them down when they are uncomfortable, and the protection will not be properly maintained). Furthermore, it will do nothing to stop transmission during non-working hours.
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