New York Post, Sunday, October 25, 2020nypost.comoutbreak
By Melanie GrayFlu deaths nationwide are
down two-thirds from the five-
year average, a drop that could
indicate the most vulnerable
Americans died in the first wave
of COVID-19.
Federal estimates show no flu
deaths for the week ending Oct.- The national five-year fatality
average for the same week is 17.
The state and the city recorded
no flu deaths, which is also that
week’s five-year average for
each.
But Health Department spokes-
man Michael Lanza told The
Post, “We are still very early into
this influenza season and it’s too
early to make any predictions on
severity.”
A similar pattern is emerging in
Britain, where flu and pneumonia
took 1,132 lives last month, 28
percent lower than the five-year
monthly average of roughly 1,
to 1,600. That country’s Office for
National Statistics thinks the
drop is because medically vul-
nerable Brits who would have
died this fall from flu and pneu-
monia instead died last spring
from the coronavirus.
But private British statistician
Kevin McConway told The Posthe doubts “whether it’s the whole
story.” McConway points out that
flu and pneumonia are airborne
infections like the coronavirus
and the safety guidelines put in
place for the pandemic: masks,
social distancing and handwash-
ing, would stop them, too.
Said state Health Department
spokesman Jeffrey Hammond:
“Wearing masks, social distanc-
ing, hand washing, and all the
other measures put in place to
slow the coronavirus should also
slow the flu and other viruses.”
US health officials have been
telling Americans for months
that a bad flu season on top of theCOVID outbreak could over-
whelm hospitals and increase the
risk of catching both infections at
the same time.
Pneumonia deaths in the US
and across the city and state are
down as well. For the week end-
ing Oct. 17, deaths nationwide
stood at 1,251, down 60 percent
from the five-year average of
3,106 for the same week.
The state recorded 93 pneumo-
nia deaths, a 36 percent decrease
from the five-year average of 146
for the same week. The city’s to-
tal stood at 51, down from the
five-year average of 86, a 41 per-
cent reduction.IroNIC flu drop
Fewer deaths likely due to COV fatalities
An eighth-grader held a birth-
day party with four classmates
from her Bronx school before
testing positive for COVID-19 —
raising fears of a “super-
spreader” event, The Post has
learned.
The party, which took place in-
side a small apartment, featured
a “cake fight” with girls smearing
icing on each other’s faces, the
kids told staffers at PS/MS 20 in
Norwood.
“She blew out the candles,” one
said. “They were not social dis-
tancing, and nobody was wear-
ing masks.”
The birthday
girl, 13, did not
come to school
on Monday be-
cause she felt
ill, and on
Wednesday her
mom told the
school that her
daughter had tested positive.
“She’s very sick,” with a fever,
chills, chest pain, a sore throat
and rashes, the insider said.
The school immediately sent
the students in the same class to
the isolation room to wait for
parents to pick them up. The stu-
dents were told to quarantine for
14 days.
But the girl’s four teachers
were not informed until the end
of the day because administra-
tors could not find substitutes to
cover for them immediately, in-
siders said.
The other partygoers either ha-
ven’t been tested for the corona-
virus, or the results were not yet
available. Susan Edelman
Birthday fest
spreads fear
COVID-19 deaths in New York
remained low Friday, with 11 peo-
ple in the state dying of the virus
for the second consecutive day.
Meanwhile, hospitalizations
reached 1,045, an uptick of 22
from Thursday, according to
new data released by the state
Saturday.
The number of hospitalizations
is at its highest level since June
22, when 1,104 New Yorkers were
admitted for the coronavirus.
Of the 156,940 tests conducted
Friday, 2,061 were positive, or 1.
percent of the total, said Gov.
Cuomo.
Test rates in the hot spots,
which include parts of Brooklyn
and Queens, was 2.58 percent.
Isabel Vincent
Corona deaths
in NYS ‘stable’
FacebookMaybe the FDNY’s top doc should take
a refresher course on how to properly ad-
minister a flu shot.
The department posted photos on Twit-
ter last week showing Chief Medical Officer
Dr. David Prezant giving a flu shot to Fire
Commissioner Daniel Nigro (above) and
other department bigs — with bare hands.
Prezant wasn’t following FDNY proto-
col: He wasn’t wearing gloves, which is al-ways important when injecting patients
— but especially during the COVID-
pandemic. What’s worse, Prezant had a
small cut on his thumb, which is seen
pressing against Nigro’s shoulder.
Photos also show Prezant vaccinating
First Deputy Commissioner Laura Kavan-
agh and Chief of Department John Sudnik.
FDNY spokesman Frank Dwyer noted
that Prezant and patients wore maskswhile they were doing the vaccinations.
But Dwyer added, “The doctor did ac-
knowledge that gloves should have been
worn in this instance.”
The photo ops aimed to promote the
FDNY’s Operation BioPOD, an emergen-
cy-preparedness initiative. All depart-
ment personnel are given the option to
receive the flu vaccine while they are on
duty. Susan Edelman