More people are wearing masks, coughing is common on public transportation, a school has closed, families are canceling plans, and even professional sports have been affected, News.Az reports, citing The New York Times.
Brooklyn Nets head coach Jordi Fernández and a New York Rangers assistant coach both missed games due to the flu.
Preliminary hospital data show that, in the week ending Dec. 20, more New Yorkers visited emergency rooms with flu-like symptoms—such as fever and cough—than in any other week over the past 10 years. According to the city’s syndromic surveillance system, which tracks every emergency room visit, 9,857 patients were seen for “influenza-like illness” last week. This figure surpasses peak weeks from the severe 2017–18 and 2024–25 flu seasons, both classified as high severity by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Laboratory testing further highlights the scale of the outbreak. During the second week of December, New York City recorded 24,607 lab-confirmed flu cases, exceeding any single week from the previous flu season, which itself was considered particularly severe. More than half of those cases—14,957—were among children.
This year’s flu season began earlier than usual, with cases rising about a month ahead of last year’s timeline. In recent weeks, New York City and surrounding areas, along with parts of Louisiana, have reported some of the highest flu activity levels nationwide, according to the CDC.
Health officials note that the dominant circulating flu strain, known as H3N2, has developed mutations that may help it evade the immune system. As a result, the flu vaccine may be less effective at preventing infection than in some other years. However, early data suggest that vaccinated individuals are still less likely to require hospitalization if they contract the virus.
