With the chilly winter season now in full swing, flu and COVID-19 cases are trending upward in both Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.
“There have been a few hospitalizations due to influenza virus. There have been hospitalizations due to RSV virus with little kids, obviously; and there have been some hospitalizations due to COVID,” said Dr. Henning Ansorg, Health Officer for the County of Santa Barbara.
He says in recent weeks, influenza cases have risen primarily in the North County, while other local health officials say they have seen an increase in COVID-19 activity in Paso Robles and the City of San Luis Obispo.
“I wear a mask when I am around people,” said Noah Castillo of Guadalupe.
His brother, Matthew, adds that his school is also still taking measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“They usually give us this little home COVID thing so you can do COVID tests at your house,” he said.
Tara Kennon is the public information specialist for the San Luis Obispo County Health Agency and says that due to the increased use of home testing kits, her department can’t truly assess the exact number of COVID-19 or flu cases they are seeing.
However, both she and Dr. Ansorg say their counties also monitor COVID activity in wastewater, which projects how case counts may look in the coming weeks.
“What we have seen with COVID and with influenza is quite a significant uptick,” Dr. Ansorg told KSBY.
He says while the estimated number of flu cases in Santa Barbara County mirrors what was seen this time last year, he adds that those figures are much higher than the year prior when people in the community were still masking up.
He tells KSBY that over-the-counter medicine can be used to treat most influenza infections, but sensitive groups like young children and the elderly may want to consider another option.
“When the virus gets identified early on, within 48 hours, there is a medication called Tamiflu to be taken that will really reduce influenza symptoms very significantly,” he said.
Health officials in both counties say it is not too late for you to protect yourself against these viruses and are encouraging you to get vaccinated if you haven’t done so already.
