DAYTON — Ohio’s flu outbreak keeps getting worse.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 5:30, after four weeks of steadily increasing flu cases at hospitals across the Miami Valley, patients may be seeing much higher wait times at emergency rooms.
“Just really over the past couple of weeks, we’ve seen pretty drastic increases,” Lisa Henderson with the Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association said.
Henderson shared numbers that show more than a 74 percent increase in a week from the counties a part of the association.
Whether you are sick or hurt the added stress on emergency rooms impacts everyone.
“What we are seeing are possibilities for increased wait times,” Henderson said.
She said weekends are usually busiest for them, but wait times can change every day.
Henderson said other forms of care may be the best fit for some patients.
“If it’s non-emergent symptoms, we encourage first contact with your primary care physician and see what they recommend,” she said.
Henderson suggested buying an at home flu test kit and deciding how to move forward from there.
We will continue to follow this story.
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