The masking, the social distancing and all of the other steps people have taken in recent months to curb the spread of COVID-19 appear to have contributed to something else: an extraordinarily mild flu season so far. Across Northeast Pennsylvania and the rest of the commonwealth, the state Department of Health categorizes influenza activity as low, with only 2,595 laboratory-confirmed cases and 35 flu-related hospitalizations statewide since the seasonâs start in late September. During the 2019-2020 flu season, there were 2,241 confirmed flu cases in Lackawanna County. Luzerne County had 3,768. Within the Geisinger Health System, there have been no flu-related hospitalizations or even any positive laboratory test results as of Friday, said Dr. Pragya Dhaubhadel, director of infection prevention and control for Geisingerâs northeast region.