BUFFALO, NY — With the holiday season wrapping up, physicians are warning families to pay attention to children who may be experiencing sickness, as the holidays bring an uptick in sick visits.
Kathleen Grisanti told 7 News reporter Jaurdyn Johnson that her office in Orchard Park has seen a rise in RSV, Flu and COVID-19 cases.
"We are seeing an influx of Covid, Influenza A and influenza B and RSV and many other viruses we don't routinely test for. We often have surges of different kind of viruses where one ends and another one starts but we are seeing a mixture this year."
With families gathering inside and spending time with friends and family, the spread of illness increases — and with that comes longer wait times at emergency rooms and urgent care centers.
You can check Kaleida Health's website for ER wait times.
7 News spoke with Dr. Thomas Krier, one of the emergency room physicians at Millard Fillmore treating an influx of patients.
"It has been a busy day and we are all hands on deck and we got a lot of people and even in-spite of that the volumes are pretty high and the wait times are creeping up. We are working our hardest to get you back and get the people that really need to be seen taken care of, probably in the Christmas time and first few weeks of the New Year things will be taking a little bit longer."
So if you or your child is experiencing shortness of breath, ear pain, or persistent fevers, it’s probably time to see a doctor.
Physicians say to test if you or your child are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.
If you have an at-home COVID test, it may still be good to use despite having an expiration date that’s already passed. That’s because the FDA has granted extensions for some tests — in some cases up to a year beyond the expiration date on the box. You can find more details here.
