Both COVID and flu case rates were down or starting to decline in Gilmer County prior to the Chirstmas holidays, members of the Gilmer County Board of Health heard during a Dec. 13 teleconference meeting. Dr. Zachary Taylor, North Georgia Health District director, said the winter season normally sees increased respiratory illnesses that can be spread with people spending more time inside and around each other during the holidays. There have been high rates of flu across Georgia this winter, particularly in children, but those rates had generally started to go back down, Taylor told board members Charlie Paris, Lex Rainey, Tracy Wells, Dr. Brian Ridley and Nicole Bond.
“(That is) good, but we are seeing a slight uptick in the (flu) rates for our older population, which is concerning because that is the population that has greater incidences of hospitalization and severe illness,” he added.
COVID cases have been at low levels in the county recently, although cases numbers had started to rise in the metro Atlanta area and larger counties to the south prior to the year-end holidays, Taylor noted.
“It’s possible we’ll see a little bit of an increase the next few months as we go through the winter season,” he said.
Taylor emphasized it’s not too late to get a flu shot.
“We also continue to offer the primary vaccinations for COVID, as well as the new bivalent booster at our health departments,” he added.
Krystal Sumner, Gilmer Health Department nurse manager, said the local health department had given 280 high dose and 470 regular flu shots as of Dec. 13.
“We (also) went to 21 businesses and provided onsite clinics for their employees,” she added.