There is a cultural expectation that health care workers, especially in hospitals, tolerate abusive behavior, making them less likely to want to pursue a criminal case and law enforcement and district attorneys less likely to prosecute, hospital workers told the Sun Journal.
The omicron subvariant, XBB, now accounts for about 70% of all COVID-19 cases in the Northeast. While it is more contagious than previous subvariants, local hospital officials say they are not seeing a spike in hospitalizations.
Flu-associated hospitalizations in Androscoggin and Franklin counties each tripled last week compared to the week prior, with 15 patients and six patients admitted to hospitals, respectively.
Even if clinicians and public health experts had expected to see a surge in cases this season, flu and other respiratory viruses, such as COVID-19, are still flooding emergency departments, urgent cares and primary care physicians’ offices with sick patients.