Aggie95 said:

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I agree for the most part.
The difficult part will be when the flu starts, deciphering if you have flu or covid. I could see some thinking its flu and end up spreading the VID.

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I've thought this same thing. Everyone is worried about school for the fall, but I think the toughest strain on schools will be Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, and Mar as they have to determine flu vs COVID.

If they keep the don't come to school when sick rules in place, it helps mitigate it.

cone said:

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does anyone think that the flu will be absolutely crushed by all the measures in places that will continue as a bulwark against COVID?

I kinda do

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Think so as well. Flu season had already kind of been winding down when COVID really took off, but the measures still had affect on Flu.

Think if we're keeping certain policies in place, Flu season will be impacted.

I think generally that as we do return to school/work in larger amounts, people will not go in as often if they are feeling slightly sick (and we'll see plenty of people take advantage of this as well), which should help keep flu #'s down

those days are over if your experience with remote work has been generally acceptable and productive

Agreed, and it's a good thing

Problem is going to be any kind of cold or flu or kid with a fever and runny nose will be treated as Covid and people will freak out.

gougler08 said:

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I think generally that as we do return to school/work in larger amounts, people will not go in as often if they are feeling slightly sick (and we'll see plenty of people take advantage of this as well), which should help keep flu #'s down

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I mean, whatever you may end up having (flu, COVID, other) this is really the best thing for everyone so it's kind of nice that we may come out of this with at least one positive.

Big Al 1992 said:

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Problem is going to be any kind of cold or flu or kid with a fever and runny nose will be treated as Covid and people will freak out.

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Absolutely - look at the CDC chart and tell me how a school nurse is going to be able to determine if a child has COVID or not come later in the fall. The symptoms overlap so much, and the presentation in children so similar, to any number of normal child illnesses. Add in that RNs are super-sensitive to their licenses, and you have a recipe for most anything to be assumed COVID until otherwise indicated.

cone said:

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those days are over if your experience with remote work has been generally acceptable and productive

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Perhaps, but that begs the question: how much of the population fits into that category? A much larger chunk of Texags users can work remotely than the general population.

fig96 said:

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gougler08 said:

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I think generally that as we do return to school/work in larger amounts, people will not go in as often if they are feeling slightly sick (and we'll see plenty of people take advantage of this as well), which should help keep flu #'s down

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I mean, whatever you may end up having (flu, COVID, other) this is really the best thing for everyone so it's kind of nice that we may come out of this with at least one positive.

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No doubt and I do think people just being more generally aware of hygiene and impacts to other will be nice too. Not worth what we've gone through of course but somewhat of a silver lining

The virus spreads more readily indoors so, as people start to spend more time indoors in the fall, the assumption is more people will get it. But if people who can work from home continue to do so and large gatherings/bars/restaurants continue to be restricted, the spread can hopefully be slowed/controlled.

The presence of the flu doesn't contribute or take away from the spread of COVID so much as it adds to the stress on hospitals. But, like others have mentioned, the COVID restrictions will push the flu numbers way down. I saw an article a few weeks ago that said that it was hardly spreading at all in the Southern hemisphere during their winter (I would provide a link but I can't remember where I saw it).

Quote:

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Absolutely - look at the CDC chart and tell me how a school nurse is going to be able to determine if a child has COVID or not come later in the fall. The symptoms overlap so much, and the presentation in children so similar, to any number of normal child illnesses.

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I suspect there will be a lot of 'Dont Ask, Dont Tell' going on with parents, teachers and nurses.

Big Al 1992 said:

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Problem is going to be any kind of cold or flu or kid with a fever and runny nose will be treated as Covid and people will freak out.

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this is true. it won't be as big a deal if we can get reliable testing down to about 48 hours. If we have to keep waiting 7-10 days for a test it will be very difficult to keep kids in school without missing 10-20 days.

tysker said:

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Quote:

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Absolutely - look at the CDC chart and tell me how a school nurse is going to be able to determine if a child has COVID or not come later in the fall. The symptoms overlap so much, and the presentation in children so similar, to any number of normal child illnesses.

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I suspect there will be a lot of 'Dont Ask, Dont Tell' going on with parents, teachers and nurses.

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Parents, absolutely. Have talked to several teachers and they are concerned if they don't send a kid to the nurse for fear that they might be blamed if some kid does have it, they suspected something, did not send the student and something happens. Nurses, in particular, are most definitely not likely to do this - their license could be at risk.

i'm assuming at least moderate social distancing is here to stay until a vaccine and likely beyond that

we're institutionalized now

cone said:

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does anyone think that the flu will be absolutely crushed by all the measures in places that will continue as a bulwark against COVID?

I kinda do

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There is also the fact that many of the most vulnerable people to COVID19 are also the most vulnerable to the flu. But you can only die once.

The "excess death" number thru the end of flu season should be greatly impacted by that. Essentially, many of the people who would have died from the upcoming flu season will have already died from COVID19.

Won't masks and social distancing help to mitigate the flu this coming season as well?

TCTTS said:

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Won't masks and social distancing help to mitigate the flu this coming season as well?

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Yes it will along with people working from home, not gathering in churches, not going to parties, not going to sports events and not traveling between countries to the extent we normally do. Many are not just socially distancing, which I think of as maintaining the six foot distance from one another, many are avoiding activities that allow any in-person visual contact with other people.

When I hear people say they haven't been out to eat at a restaurant or spent any time around their 50-70 year old parents or grandparents for five months now, I know they have taken social distancing to an unhealthy extreme that is not likely to significantly change until this is much more eliminated from daily life. Even my physician believes the flu will be non-existent this year. How will any virus spread at its normal levels with some major companies already not returning to their offices until after January 1, next summer or ever? There is just not going to be the same level of human contact that we normally have for the next 6-9 months.

Sisyphus said:

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The virus spreads more readily indoors so, as people start to spend more time indoors in the fall, the assumption is more people will get it.

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I've never really understood this. Regardless of season, people spend the overwhelming majority of the time indoors. When the weather is nice, most people only spend a little more time outside (on most days) and remain indoors for most of the work/school day and at night.

it's like people on twitter blaming the AC for the summer spike in Texas

bro, we're on AC for 9 months out of the year