January 24, 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 3,498 (4.6%) positive influenza specimens out of a total of 75,638 specimens tested in clinical laboratories. Influenza A makes up 3,403 of those cases, while Influenza B makes up 95 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 47,459 new cases (a 23.9% decrease from the week before) and a daily average of 5,014 new hospitalizations (a 16.1% increase from the previous week) as of January 18. The CDC says that there are several “lineages of omicron and within each are multiple sublineages.” The most dominant strains are XBB.1.5 projected at 49.1% and BQ.1.1 projected at 26.9%.