ST. PAUL, Minn. – As the state grapples with the new threat of coronavirus, the traditional flu season is on the wane in Minnesota.

The Weekly Influenza and Respiratory Illness Activity Report from the Minnesota Department of Health find the number of people being hospitalized for the flu has now dropped sharply for three straight weeks. There were 177 people hospitalized for influenza for the week ending March 14, down from 326 the week before.

3,847 people in Minnesota have been hospitalized for the flu so far, the second highest number in the last six years and there are still over two months left in this flu season.

The flu has killed 121 people in Minnesota as of March 14 with three of those deaths being children. That death rate is far below past flu seasons with similarly high rates of hospitalizations. At the current rate, Minnesota’s flu death total will be only the 4th highest in the last six seasons.

The median age of those deaths is 73 years old, which would be the second youngest in the last six seasons.