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The flu season in the U.S. is getting worse but it’s too soon to tell how much holiday gatherings contributed to a likely spike in illnesses. New government data posted Friday for last week — the holiday week between Christmas and New Year’s — show 38 states with high or very high levels for respiratory illnesses with fever, cough and other symptoms. That’s up from 31 states the week before. The measure likely includes people with COVID-19, RSV and other winter viruses, and not just flu. But flu seems to be increasing most dramatically, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Stobbe, 1/5)

Â鶹ŮÓÅ Health News: There’s A New Covid-19 Variant And Cases Are Ticking Up. What Do You Need To Know? 

It’s winter, that cozy season that brings crackling fireplaces, indoor gatherings — and a wave of respiratory illness. Nearly four years since the pandemic emerged, people are growing weary of dealing with it, but the virus is not done with us. Nationally, a sharp uptick in emergency room visits and hospitalizations for covid-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, began in mid-December and appears to be gaining momentum. (Appleby, 1/8)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday that COVID subvariant JN.1 accounts for about 62% of cases in the U.S. as of Jan. 5, according to the agency's projections. The agency said JN.1, which is an offspring of BA.2.86, is now the most widely circulated variant in the U.S. and globally. It is also the dominant variant in Europe and is rising sharply in Asia, the CDC said. (1/5)

New data show pronounced recent jumps in the rate at which coronavirus and flu tests are coming back positive, as well as the number of hospital-admitted patients testing positive for the viruses. Workplaces are also seeing higher numbers of employees call in sick due to infections. National wastewater data suggest this winter could see the highest number of coronavirus infections occurring during any given week since the first Omicron wave began in fall 2021. (Lin II, 1/6)

Hospitals are beginning to revive mask mandates as the highly contagious COVID-19 variant known as JN.1 overspreads the United States and health systems grapple with a spike in other seasonal respiratory viruses. (Bettelheim and Millman, 1/5)

As COVID-19 hospitalization rates trend upward by 16.9% nationwide, hospitals and health systems are reinstating mask mandates. Several regions of the U.S. have seen a "substantial increase" of COVID-19 cases as of Dec. 30 and a rise in viral activity levels in wastewater between Dec. 9-28, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (DeSilva, 1/5)

Hospitalizations from COVID-19 and the flu have surged in the past month, prompting the Maryland Department of Health to recommend that hospitals and doctor’s offices double down on efforts to suppress the spread of illness, including requiring masks in all patient care areas. (Roberts, 1/8)

St. Louis health officials are again recommending that residents wear masks indoors or in crowded spaces where social distancing isn’t possible as cases of COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses rise throughout the region. The city also is recommending that city employees wear masks indoors starting Friday, said a spokesman for Mayor Tishaura Jones. (Fentem, 1/5)

The University of Maryland School of Medicine is conducting a "flu transmission" study. The study is designed to examine the person-to-person transmission of community-acquired influenza in healthy adults aged 18 to 59. ... "Viruses can be transmitted in different ways," Dr. Wilbur Chen, the study co-investigator at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, which is partnering with the university's School of Public Health, told our media partner at The Baltimore Banner. "Some might be more airborne than others." (Thompson, 1/5)