Months ago, experts expressed concern over what could be referred to as a "twindemic," or a combination of an influenza crisis and the coronavirus pandemic.
These two crises, in combination, could easily bring extreme strain to the hospital system and put even more lives in danger. However, Hawaii has been able to avoid this sort of crisis, at least so far.
In fact, the procedures set forth to prevent the spread of the coronavirus have all but eliminated influenza in the state. The last case of influenza in Hawaii was reported last July, according to Chris Whelen, DLS vice president.
“This is a particularly bizarre influenza season in that it’s nonexistent. Historically we should be peaking with influenza right about now with post-holiday travel, but we are just not seeing it," Whelen said.
The reason for the lack of influenza cases is believed to be the vastly improved measures that have been taken such as social distancing, hand-washing and mask-wearing. These have been helpful in preventing all sorts of respiratory illnesses in addition to coronavirus and influenza. Another factor in the prevention of these diseases has been the lack of travel, especially tourism travel when it comes to Hawaii.
“In fact, we may be at the very beginning (of flu season). At Queen’s, this is unprecedented. It could be a late flu season because we’ve had later flu seasons before, or the interventions that we’ve all done for COVID have greatly reduced the transmission of influenza," Dr. Erlaine Bello, infectious disease specialist at The Queen's Medical Center, said.
The main concern for health officials is that people could contract the flu and coronavirus at the same time, which would be a deadly combination. For now, it appears that this crisis has been avoided, though health officials are still struggling to contain the pandemic.