CLEVELAND — While COVID-19 continues to spread in Ohio, experts say the number of people becoming sick with the flu remains low.


What You Need To Know

  • Data analysts and doctors credit mask-wearing, virtual classes, people practicing remote lifestyles and flu shots for the low numbers

  • A Cuyahoga County data analyst said there were 40 flu deaths in the county last flu season

  • In the 51st week of 2019, 216 people were hospitalized with the flu, according to the Ohio Department of Health

  • In the 51st week of 2020, only seven people have been hospitalized with the flu

Since 2010, Richard Stacklin has studied flu numbers as a data analyst for Cuyahoga County. But this year, he noticed something was off.

“I actually was worried because ... I didn’t see any hospitalizations and it was the first part of December. I was like, is my data, you know, files working? Like, am I pulling it correctly?”

He’s pleasantly surprised to see the low flu numbers in the county and state of Ohio so far this year. 

“The flu numbers, honestly have been the lowest that we’ve seen since I’ve started reporting in 2010. I let people know that the average number of people hospitalized due to flu in Cuyahoga County would have been close to 500 at this point in the flu season, and right now we have four cases. And so, we have no flu deaths. And last flu season, we had 40 flu deaths,” Stacklin said.

The decline in flu cases isn't surprising to University Hospitals Dr. Claudia Hoyen.

"It’s not unexpected. You know, when we look at how the flu is spread, it is primarily through droplets. And if we have people who are in settings where say at work, kids aren’t back in school yet, if everyone’s wearing a mask, that is really going to be pretty efficient in terms of keeping the spread of the flu down. We also know that people have been getting the flu shot,” said Hoyen, the director of Infection Control at UH Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital. 

But why are flu cases on the decline, and COVID-19 cases on the rise?

“The things that are really big spreaders of the flu, typically are children, which is different than COVID,” Hoyen said. “The super spreader events that are available now, things like bars, if people are still going to those or parties, those aren’t necessarily going to include many children.”

Stacklin is optimistic there won’t be a “twindemic” of COVID-19 combined with flu if public health action is taken.

He said he hopes people will make the right choices to stop the spread and save lives.

“I want to protect my child. I want her to be able to grow up. In order for me to do that, I need to protect myself, my health, and protect her. That’s why I wear a mask," Stacklin said.

"I also want to protect my parents who are, you know, have co-morbidities and potentially can get sick and likely would die if they got this. And so I want to protect them. And so when I talk to (people) about wearing a mask or washing their hands, if they don’t want to do it for themselves, think about their loved ones, or maybe someone else’s loved ones.”

Health researchers know it’ll be hard to keep flu numbers this low when life gets back to normal.

But health experts say flu can remain low if people continue actions like staying home when sick and washing hands frequently.

Health officials also say that people have a significant number of antibodies built up because the flu is so common.

COVID-19, however, is a different story.

It's still a new disease to immune systems.