Tampa Bay doctors warn public about rise in COVID-19 and flu cases

TAMPA, Fla. (Tampa Bay Now) – Local experts are warning about a rise in COVID-19 and flu cases.

With holiday travel in full-swing, doctors are asking people to take precautions.

“An example of no good deed going unpunished. Over the last two years people have been doing a lot of social distancing, wearing masks and being very careful,” said Dr. Thomas Unnasch with the University of South Florida.

Dr. Thomas Unnasch is a public health professor at the University of South Florida and says COVID-19 and flu cases are increasing across the state.

“People are starting to get back to what they did before the pandemic, which is people are going to parties. People are seeing family a lot more…after the last two years our immunity is down quite a bit for a lot of these infections,” said Dr. Unnasch.

According to the CDC, Florida is currently showing a high level of influenza cases.

“It’s a little bit more than usual since it’s the flu season. Not only flu but also other upper-respiratory infections and of course COVID-19 is around as well,” said Dr. Marcelino Mederos, a local doctor.

Dr. Unnasch says COVID-19 hospitalizations are rising quickly.

“Up about 49% over the last two weeks here in Florida,” said Dr. Unnasch.

Dr. Marcelino Mederos works at a local family clinic in Pinellas County called Access Healthcare and says his office has been pretty busy.

“We’ve seen people in the last couple weeks about three or four patients with upper-respiratory symptoms daily,” said Dr. Mederos.

He says people need to take safety precautions.

“The influenza vaccine is very important for every patient,” said Dr. Mederos.

Dr. Unnasch says the people most susceptible to severe flu or COVID right now are the elderly.

“If you’re really worried about you living with somebody who is elderly or at risk or something like that, I still think it’s a really good idea to wear a mask around people if you can,” said Dr. Unnasch.

Doctors expect COVID and flu cases to remain high through January or February.

No Byline Policy

Editorial Guidelines

Corrections Policy

Source