Question: You showed a US flu map he other day, which was very green (minimal flu). I’m curious, how does the map compare with previous years?

Answer: The data I shared a couple of days ago was for end-December.  We now have data for flu week 53, ending January 2nd, which shows that flu activity remains unusually low. For comparison purposes, Figure 1 includes the early-January 2021, 2020, 2019, and 2018 flu maps from CDC.  The difference this year is amazing.  Makes me think maybe we should wear masks every fall/winter flu season… but that’s just a hypothesis!     

Figure 1. USA Influenza Map, early-January 2021, 2020, 2019, and 2018