February 7, 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 1,483 (2.1%) positive influenza specimens out of a total of 69,223 specimens tested in clinical laboratories. Influenza A makes up 1,396 of those cases, while Influenza B makes up 87 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 40,130 new cases (a 6.7% decrease from the week before) and a daily average of 3,919 new hospitalizations (an 8.4% increase from the previous week) as of February 1. 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 66.4% and BQ.1.1 projected at 19.9%.