These statistics are drawn from Centers for Disease Control’s COVID-19 Situation Summary in the U.S. website. The CDC indicates that there statistics may be understated. The FEHBlog is using the CDC’s website in the interest of consistency and reliability.

The COVID-19 virus is present in all 50 states with the highest concentration of case in New York State, California, and Washington State.

From the CDC’s latest Fluline (March 14),

• Nationally, the percent of specimens testing positive for influenza at clinical laboratories continued to decrease while ILI activity increased for the second week in a row after declining for three weeks. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, more people may be seeking care for respiratory illness than usual at this time.
• Laboratory confirmed influenza-associated hospitalization rates for the U.S. population overall remain moderate compared to recent seasons, but rates for children 0-4 years and adults 18-49 years are now the highest CDC has on record for these age groups, surpassing rates reported during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. Hospitalization rates for school-aged children (5-17 years) are higher than any recent regular season but remain lower than rates experienced by this age group during the pandemic.
• Pneumonia and influenza mortality levels have been low, but 149 influenza-associated deaths in children have been reported so far this season. This number is higher than recorded at the same time in every season since reporting began in 2004-05, except for the 2009 pandemic.
• CDC estimates that so far this season there have been at least 38 million flu illnesses, 390,000 hospitalizations and 23,000 deaths from flu.

In other news,

• SHRM offers more details on the Family and Medical Leave Act and new COVID-19 related paid leave created by this week’s Families First Coronavirus Response Act.
• Govexec.com reports on OPM’s latest guidance regarding COVID-19 related telework for federal employees. “OPM on Thursday wrote that agencies can more quickly implement mass telework by formally evacuating employees’ worksites in connection with a pandemic. By using evacuation pay authority, agencies can mandate that federal employees use telework, regardless of whether they already have a telework agreement.”
• FCW informs us about an interview with OMB Deputy Director Margaret Weichert about the government’s COVID-19 communications strategy for its agencies and workforce.
• The IRS has moved this year’s tax day from April 15 to July 15 due to the COVID-19 emergency. Check with your tax advisor generally and on whether your state is following the IRS’s lead.
• Healthcare Dive reports that telehealth companies are scrambling to add doctors to their platforms. That’s a good sign. Mhealthintelligence.com adds that “The national network of 36 independent BCBS companies announced Thursday that it would boost connected health coverage for the next 90 days, in response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This will include waiving cost-sharing for telehealth services for fully-insured members, and it applies to all in-network providers and clinically appropriate services.”