LYMAN — The hype for vaccination for COVID-19 has also apparently aided in last year’s unusually low incidents of flu cases, according to Dr. Alexia Harrist, state health officer and state epidemiologist with WDH.

In a release Tuesday, Harrist was quoted as saying, “As the next flu season begins, we know flu shots remain the first and most important step in influenza protection. Flu vaccines are safe and reduce illness, hospitalizations and deaths. Everyone six months of age and older should receive a flu shot.”

The department has started to receive sporadic reports of flu from across Wyoming in recent weeks.

“Reported flu activity was unusually low over the past flu season. Looking back, it appears the precautions intended to slow the spread of COVID-19 also likely reduced the impact of influenza significantly,” Harrist said. “People were not traveling as much, they weren’t socializing as frequently, they were often wearing masks, and they were taking extra care with measures such as hand-washing and cleaning.”

Health officials had started to hype flu shots a couple of weeks ago, forewarning residents to be extra cautious so they didn’t fall ill from both the coronavirus and the flu. And, officials continue to push vaccination for the virus as a means to control the pandemic.

Following an unusually quiet 2020-21 flu season, a Wyoming Department of Health (WDH) official says the need for flu shots remains important to help protect Wyoming residents from influenza as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

“As we begin a new flu season, we expect influenza will circulate while COVID-19 remains a threat,” Harrist said. “Unfortunately, the pandemic continues to put a strain on our healthcare system. While we are unable to predict how much flu we’ll see in Wyoming this season, we are concerned about the combined impact of both influenza and COVID-19 on our hospitals and on our state’s residents.”

As for the coronavirus, Wyoming’s active coronavirus case count was on the upswing during the week and the WDH reported the number of active coronavirus cases in Wyoming increased by almost 400 on Wednesday.

The department’s regular coronavirus update said the state received reports of 300 new laboratory-confirmed cases and 139 probable cases on Wednesday.

Natrona County had the highest number of active cases at 712 followed by Campbell County with 324 and Laramie County with 299. Fremont had 275. Uinta and Park had 213 each. Sweetwater had 158 and Lincoln had 123. Hot Springs had 14.