ST. PAUL, Minn. – Flu activity in Minnesota has been downgraded from “widespread” to “regional.”
The move comes as the number of people hospitalized for the flu around the state drops to its lowest level in three and a half months.
The Weekly Influenza and Respiratory Illness Activity Report says 72 people were hospitalized for the flu for the week ending on March 21. That’s down from 185 the week before. A total of 3,953 have been hospitalized for the flu in Minnesota this season, 2,388 of them in the Twin Cities metro area.
As of March 21, the flu has killed 135 people in Minnesota with three of those deaths to children under the age of 18. Just two schools reported outbreaks of flu-like illness for the week ending March 21. That’s the lowest number of such outbreaks in three months.
Iowa health officials do not track flu-related hospitalizations the same as Minnesota but the Iowa Department of Public Health says there have been 61 flu deaths so far this season with one involving a child under 18.
