Health officer: respiratory illness season over

Flu was worse than COVID-19 this season, which the Grant County Health District said last week is pretty much over.

The Grant County Health Officer, Dr. Alexander Brzezny, has officially announced the end of the epidemic phase of the 2024/2025 respiratory illness season.

Since March 2025, emergency department visits in Grant County related to COVID-19, influenza (flu), and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) have remained below thresholds set by the health officers in our region. Other indicators show that respiratory virus activity is continuing to decline.

Grant County Health District (GCHD) encourages residents to stay up to date on vaccinations and practice good hygiene to help prevent the spread of illness. Healthcare facilities may deactivate their respiratory virus or influenza epidemic policies and resume routine surveillance and precautions.

The Centers for Disease Control says this season was considered a high severity season for flu and had the highest hospitalization rate since the 2010/2011 season. CDC estimates that there have been at least 590,000 hospitalizations and 26,000 deaths from flu so far this season. In contrast, hospitalizations associated with COVID-19 were lower than all previous seasons.

The 2024/2025 respiratory illness season was officially announced on December 27, 2024. This season peaked in early February, when 13% of all emergency department visits were related to RSV, flu, or COVID-19. Since the season began, GCHD has responded to twelve flu outbreaks in schools and long-term care facilities, and five COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care facilities.

GCHD confirmed four influenza-related deaths this season. No COVID-related deaths were reported.

Although respiratory virus activity continues to decline, respiratory viruses can be unpredictable, and the situation could change. GCHD will continue monitoring seasonal (flu) and year-round (COVID-19) illnesses. Healthcare facilities are urged to continue monitoring their own respiratory illness indicators and respond accordingly.

GCHD will discontinue weekly respiratory illness season social media updates and provider notifications until the next season.