LONG WINTER AHEAD

California Records First Simultaneous Flu and COVID Infections in One Unlucky Patient

The patient is a health-care worker with no underlying conditions, and has apparently recovered from the simultaneous illnesses.

One incredibly unfortunate patient in California has become the state’s first person to test positive for flu and the novel coronavirus at the same time. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Solano County health officer Bela Matyas said the patient is a health-care worker under the age of 65 with no underlying conditions, and appears to have recovered from the simultaneous illnesses. “We now have flu in our community at the same time we have COVID,” said Matyas. “Contracting either disease may weaken your immune system and make you more susceptible to the other disease.” There hasn’t been enough research to know exactly how the viruses interact with each other inside one host, but health experts are pretty sure that having both at once is probably not good. Matyas added: “Getting a flu vaccine this year is more important than ever.”