Kane County emergency rooms are seeing the highest rates of influenza among patients in six years as the flu season begins, officials said.
More Top Picks How To Build Self Esteem In A Child With Dyslexia Or Adhd
At four of the five hospitals in the county, 15.2% of the emergency room visits are tied to the flu, Kane County Health Department Executive Director Michael Isaacson told Kane County Board members Wednesday.
“Right now where we are is significantly higher than what we typically see this time of year,” Isaacson said about the flu. “People are worried about the ‘twindemic.’ What are we going to see after people have taken precautions with COVID and now that we are back and around more people? It makes sense that we will be spreading more viruses and see a potentially elevated year.”
Kane County Health Department officials are meeting with hospitals on a regular basis to discuss the elevated levels of viruses including the flu and RSV over the last two months.
“We are seeing some capacity issues where hospitals are having to transport younger people farther away because we don’t have the capacity locally,” Isaacson said.
The average number of COVID-19 cases has decreased to 59 cases a day, but Isaacson said officials are keeping a careful eye on what may happen over the winter months with the coronavirus.
He said COVID-19 activity is likely higher in Kane County than the numbers indicate due to people using at-home tests and positive cases not being reported to the health department. The county remains at a low level of transmission of COVID-19 according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but Isaacson said the transmission level is still substantial.
Officials recommended residents receive vaccines for both COVID-19 and the flu and continue to use prevention methods like washing hands frequently and staying home when sick.
The health department also extended its contract to run a call center and contact tracing for COVID-19 for the next year through KPMG using federal American Rescue Plan funding. The company also investigates cases and helps schools contact families during outbreaks of coronavirus.
Around $1.9 million is budgeted for the services for next year.
As soon as the state ends the COVID-19 contact tracing mandate, Isaacson said the department plans to end the contract, go back to an in-house call center and likely spend much less than the budgeted amount. The county has used KPMG for the service since 2020.
The health department is also monitoring an Ebola outbreak in Africa. No high-risk travelers have been identified in the county, but they are monitoring six people who returned from the area where the outbreak is occurring, Isaacson said.