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As COVID-19 cases go up in Wisconsin, doctors urge everyone to get flu shots early

Posted at 7:05 PM, Sep 23, 2020
and last updated 2020-09-23 20:05:31-04

GREEN BAY (NBC26) — With COVID-19 cases on the rise all over the state, local health workers are worried hospitals won't be able to take care of everyone. Yet some people in Northeast Wisconsin aren't acting like there's still a pandemic going on, said Dr. Jennifer Frank, Chief Medical Officer at Thedacare.

“That’s a normal part of human behavior," said Frank. "You know we’re gung-ho in march and by September it’s gotten old and boring.”

Hospitals right now are seeing the highest number of COVID-19 patients since March, said Dr. Tom Nichols, Vice President of Medical Affairs at Ascension St. Elizabeth Hospital. Healthcare workers are stretched thin.

“They also live and work in our community," said Nichols. "They have kids in our schools.”

But the biggest concern right now is the upcoming flu season.

“The combination of any flu season with an emerging pandemic is something nobody has experienced before," said Nichols.

“This is really our time to take care of ourselves. And then to take care of each other.”

COVID-19 and the flu are clinically indistinguishable, said Frank. This means if you go to the hospital and say you have a fever, cough, a headache, doctors have to immediately assume you have COVID until they can test you and get your result back.

“We cannot tell by doing an exam, getting a history which one it is," said Frank.

Which is why, doctors say, it's also extremely important to continue practices that help curb the spread of both the flu and coronavirus: mask wearing, social distancing, hand washing and staying home when you feel sick.

“Our time to bend the curve is now," said Nichols. "Now is the time that we need our community to rally together to be more consistent with behaviors that can prevent illness because the demand on our healthcare system is starting now and that’s when we need the community to support each other.”