Flu is flying: Twin Cities sees highest weekly hospitalizations in past four years

Data released Thursday by the Minnesota Department of Health shows flu activity continuing to soar. In the Twin Cities seven-county region 537 people were admitted to the hospital Dec. 29 to Jan. 4. That is by far the highest weekly total of the last four seasons.  

Statewide, 877 people were hospitalized due to influenza in the week ending Jan. 4. This far exceeds last year’s statewide peak of nearly 300 weekly hospitalizations. Additionally, the 592 flu-related hospitalizations reported last week by the department for the week ending Dec. 28 was revised upward to 630 –—suggesting that the actual number of flu hospitalizations during the week ending Jan. 4 may well exceed 900. 

Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) were also up in the most recent week, although weekly admissions for both remain well below the number reported in early Jan. 2024. 

In addition to hospitalizations, COVID-19 is also tracked through monitoring its presence in the state’s wastewater. According to the University of Minnesota’s on-going Wastewater Surveillance study, COVID-19 levels have been on the increase since late November, rising to levels not seen since Feb. 2023.  

The most recent measurements, however, show a slight decrease, giving some hope that the state may have turned a corner. If that is the case, then we may also see drops in COVID-19 hospitalizations in the state.  

Such a change would be more than welcome. In addition to the challenges brought by COVID-19, RSV and especially flu, the state is also contending with an usually high number of norovirus cases.

For additional data on influenza, RSV and COVID-19 activity in Minnesota, see: https://www.apmresearchlab.org/covid/mn-key-data.