January 10, 2023 – Each week, we will compile the latest data regarding flu and COVID-19 cases in the United States. As things change, we hope that this information will paint a better picture of what to look for in emerging COVID variant and in the upcoming flu season.
According to the CDC’s Weekly U.S. Influenza Surveillance Report, there have been 33,202 (24.4%) positive influenza specimens out of a total of 135,848 specimens tested in clinical laboratories. Influenza A makes up 33,041 of those cases, while Influenza B makes up 161 of the cases. The data from clinical laboratories are used to monitor whether flu activity is increasing or decreasing.
The CDC’s COVID-19 tracker reports that there are a daily average of 67,243 new cases (a 16.2% increase from the week before) and a daily average of 6,519 new hospitalizations (a 16.1% increase from the previous week) as of January 4. The CDC says that there are several “lineages of omicron and within each are multiple sublineages.” The most dominant strains are BQ.1.1 projected at 34.4% and XBB.1.5 projected at 27.6%.