Flu activity has held steady in many states but risen in others, with the highest test positivity levels seen in northeast, south-central and mountain states, according to the CDC's latest FluView report.
Eight CDC updates:
1. Of all specimens tested in a clinical lab, 8.9 percent were positive for the flu for the week ending April 16, up slightly from 8.4 percent the week prior.
2. For the week ending April 16, 3,243 lab-confirmed flu patients were hospitalized, up from 3,170 the week before. The cumulative hospitalization rate was 9.8 per 100,000, up from 8.9 a week earlier. This marks the 11th consecutive week flu-related hospitalizations reported to HHS have increased.
3. No states reported very high flu activity. New Mexico reported high flu activity for the fourth consecutive week. Massachusetts and Puerto Rico also reported high flu activity levels. Oklahoma and New York reported moderate flu activity. Nine states — Colorado, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Kansas, Nevada, Utah, Connecticut and Rhode Island — and New York City reported low flu activity. Remaining states reported minimal activity. The District of Columbia reported insufficient data.
4. Three pediatric flu deaths were reported for the week ending April 16, bringing the cumulative pediatric flu-related deaths this season to 22.
5. The percentage of visits to an outpatient provider for respiratory illness was 2.1 percent for the week ending April 16, the same as the previous week. This is below the national baseline of 2.5 percent.
6. Nationwide, 1 percent of long-term care facilities reported more than one flu-positive test among residents, about the same as the week prior.
7. The national flu, pneumonia and/or COVID-19 mortality rate is 7.1 percent, slightly above the epidemic threshold of 6.9 percent for the week ending April 16. Among 1,214 deaths reported for the week, 427 had COVID-19 listed as an underlying or contributing cause, while 37 flu deaths listed the same. This indicates the current death rate for pneumonia, influenza and COVID-19 is primarily due to COVID-19, the CDC said.
8. The CDC estimates there have been at least 4.7 million flu illnesses, 47,000 hospitalizations and 2,800 flu-related deaths so far this season.