Respiratory illnesses surging in Mason County

Respiratory illnesses are surging in Mason County, according to the last Mason County Board of Health meeting of the year Nov. 29.

According to Public Health Officer Dr. Keri Gardner, the county is seeing high rates of influenza A, RSV and COVID-19.

“Unfortunately, this is coming at a time when for reasons that we don’t really understand, hospital occupancy rates are quite high,” Gardner said during the meeting. “So we’re asking people to continue to practice all of the things we’ve been doing over the last couple of years. Please do get vaccinated for influenza and COVID, continue to practice...