Mayo Clinic health officials concerned about twindemic as flu season starts

Heading into fall, health officials are watching closely to see what happens with COVID-19 cases, as they stated that there’s concern about a possible twindemic–with cases of the flu and coronavirus hitting at the same time.  KAUS News spoke with Dr. Sara Crane, Director of Southeast Minnesota Primary Care with Mayo Clinic Health System who stated that countries in the southern hemisphere have noted that there have not been as many flu cases as in years past during the flu season, but they added that it is possible to contract the flu and COVID-19 at the same time…

Crane went on to state that everyone who can should get a flu shot to help Mayo avoid the normal spike in flu cases they see each year due to the possibility of also seeing an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases as well…

Dr. Crane added that Mayo will be testing for both the flu and COVID-19 when the flu season arrives due to many similarities between the two viruses…

Crane stated that Mayo would ideally like to immunize everyone for the flu before the end of November, as she added that at times, the first flu cases start to appear toward the end of December.  Crane went on to state that this year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, Mayo will be looking to administer flu shots at locations outside of their major sites in southeast Minnesota to allow them to do so at a much higher rate.  Crane added that anyone looking to schedule a flu shot can do so by calling their local clinic, or by self-scheduling an appointment through their Mayo Clinic patient online services account at whatever time would be convenient for them.