​​Health News:

• Free at-home testing and telehealth treatments are now available for both flu and COVID through a federal program. (ABC)
• Deaths from contaminated cantaloupe have risen to 3 in the US and 5 in Canada, with 230 total confirmed illnesses in the US now. (AP)
• RSV and flu are rising among kids ahead of the holidays. (CBS)
• CVS has closed all but 12 San Francisco locations. (SF Chronicle)
• Using both nose and throat swabs boosts the sensitivity of rapid COVID tests. (CIDRAP)
• Air sampling in schools worked as well as other methods of tracking flu and COVID. (CIDRAP)
• Infants who were born to mothers with COVID are at risk of developmental delays. (NIH)
• The ongoing surge of mpox in the DRC is raising concerns of another global outbreak. (Washington Post) 
• There’s an “alarming” rise in drug-resistant germs in Ukraine, the CDC says. (CBS)
• 31 people are reporting GI symptoms after eating at a local sushi restaurant in Raleigh, NC. (WRAL)
• Whooping cough cases have soared 250% in the UK. (Fox)
• 250,000 birds were culled in Sonoma County, CA, due to avian flu, and a state of emergency was declared. (SF Chronicle)

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Mental Health & Substance Use News: 

• Psychologists say they can’t meet the growing demand for mental health care. (NPR)
• Pilots are speaking out about rules that discourage mental health treatment. (ABC)
• There’s a mental health crisis among Maui’s children, who are facing displacement, housing insecurity, and lingering trauma after the wildfire there. (Guardian)

‍If you or someone you know may be considering suicide or need help, call 988 or message the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741. 

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Best Questions:

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What’s the exclusion for someone with RSV?

RSV is nearing its peak right now, as any of your employees with kids in school or daycare probably know already. Someone with RSV should stay out for at least 3 days from the date their symptoms started, with at least 24 hours symptom-free (without fever-reducing medicine). In adults, RSV can range from mild cold symptoms to a severe and long-lasting cough, so someone with a bad cough may need to be out longer. If the employee themself isn’t sick but has been exposed to a sick child, for example, they can continue to work and should monitor themself for symptoms. 

Source: ZHH, CDC

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What are the latest requirements for someone COVID+?

Even though we’ve moved on from the acute pandemic stage, the virus that causes COVID hasn’t changed too much this year. Anyone who tests positive for COVID should stay home for 5 days from the date their symptoms first started. Be sure to count from the symptom start date, not the test date, since most tests don’t turn out positive until the second or third day of symptoms. As long as someone is fever-free and any respiratory and GI symptoms are resolved, they can return to work after 5 days. 

Source: CDC

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What is the economic impact of flu and COVID? 

The flu costs the US about $11 billion per year between medical costs and productivity loss. 20 million workdays are lost to the flu alone each year. COVID will have cost the US $14 trillion total by the end of the month, making it the costliest disaster the US has seen this century. We all know the business impacts of missed shifts and sick pay, but the hidden productivity loss of long-COVID and family care may go even deeper. 

Sources: Vox, Economic Modeling, Vaccine

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Best Read:

Wastewater Is Sending a Warning About Covid-19 This Holiday Season - WSJ