Patients are piling up in Minnesota emergency rooms once again, but it’s not just from COVID-19.
State health officials say influenza is making a comeback, combining with COVID, norovirus and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) to put more pressure on hospitals than they’ve faced since the pandemic. Thursday’s update of COVID activity only showed modest increases in infections and severe illnesses, but Minnesota’s tally of influenza-related hospitalizations surged to levels not seen in at least five years.
More than 40% of Minnesota’s 1,763 flu-related hospitalizations this fall and winter occurred just in the week ending Jan. 4, according to Thursday’s report, which elevated Minnesota from the low-risk range to high risk for influenza.
“There’s no space in the hospital,” said Dr. Brandon Trigger, medical…