New York state also reported just over 72,000 influenza cases during the week of December 20, its highest number ever seen. One in four of these were in New York City.
And during the week of December 27, approximately 4,550 people were hospitalized with the flu, 24 percent more than the previous week and the highest number recorded in a single week, according to the latest data from the New York State Department of Health (NYSDH).
The number of states reporting ‘low’ and ‘minimal’ flu activity has also drastically diminished. There are no longer any states with ‘minimal’ activity, and only two have ‘low’ activity: Montana and Vermont.
This is down from 10 ‘low’ and four ‘minimal’ activity states the previous week.
One in three flu tests also came back positive during the week of December 27, up 21 percent from one in four the prior week. This is a 76 percent surge from this time last year.
Ryleigh Smothers (pictured above), 16, died on December 28 from influenza just five days after visiting her doctor with ‘ordinary flu symptoms’
