Georgia faring better than South Carolina as flu season lingers

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Georgia is seeing a decline in cases during what doctors are calling one of the busiest flu seasons in memory.

But flu activity in South Carolina remained “very high” into mid-February, according to the latest data reported by the CDC.

So far in the 2025 flu season in the U.S., the worst of the flu spread appeared to happen the week of Feb. 2-8, data from the CDC’s Weekly Influenza Surveillance Report shows. That week, 38 states – including North and South Carolina – were categorized as having very high flu activity, which is the CDC’s highest level.

Flu spread declined some by the week of Feb. 9-15, which is the latest data available from the CDC. Flu activity was still ranked as very high in the Carolinas that week, however.

Flu activity in South Carolina has been categorized as very high since late December 2024. The spread of influenza worsened in the state in mid-January 2025, and has not improved in the weeks to follow, the CDC’s report shows.

By the week of Feb. 9-15, South Carolina was one of nine states ranked by the CDC at Level 13 for flu activity -- which is technically the highest level on the CDC’s scale. New York City, which is ranked separately from New York state, was also at Level 13.

Eighteen other states were still ranked as having very high flu activity that week in February, but were ranked at Levels 11 and 12.

The situation is getting better in Georgia, but doctors say it’s been a busy flu season.

“It’s been more than a decade since we’ve seen the number of flu patients that we had in the last month or two here at Memorial,” said Dr. Timothy Connelly with Memorial Health in Savannah.

He said this year, the hospital’s busiest day saw 36 flu patients.

“That’s not the people that tested positive and left the ER, that was just 36 people we had to hospitalize with the flu in one day. That’s a lot,” Connelly said.

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