Flu cases drop, but hospitals seeing more patients

The number of flu cases in Nebraska declined in the last week of 2025, falling by about 500 from the previous week. But medical officials say it doesn’t feel like cases have declined.

Despite the drop in cases, the number of the people in the hospital due to the flu rose 17% statewide, according to data from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.

Dr. Kelly Cawcutt, senior medical director of infection prevention and hospital epidemiology at Nebraska Medicine in Omaha, said that makes sense because hospitalization numbers typically lag case numbers by a couple of weeks.

“So I don't think we've really seen the full impact of it,” Cawcutt said.

She said the number of flu patients at Nebraska Medicine, “has increased dramatically over the last few weeks.”

“We are seeing very high numbers of patients in the hospital with influenza at the moment,” Cawcutt said.

That’s the case at a number of other hospitals both in Nebraska and around the country. A hospital in Des Moines, Iowa, paused elective surgeries recently to ensure there are enough beds for patients with respiratory illnesses.

Though no Nebraska hospitals so far have taken such drastic measures, some are making changes to deal with the high volume of sick patients.

On Jan. 2, Kearney Regional Medical Center started requiring many of its staff members and hospital visitors, including those seeking care, to wear masks.

“I guess once we saw an increased incidence and positivity rates from the health department, and then also DHHS and an incidence of increased positivity rates with the patients that we tested, we made the determination that we would have all of our frontline staff that had patient contact mask, and then we ask all of our patients and visitors entering the facility to mask as well,” said Amber Lubben, director of quality and patient safety at the hospital.

Lubben said that while she has seen a drop in flu cases in Buffalo County, they are still increasing in surrounding counties, including Dawson and Phelps.

She said the mask mandate will likely stick around for a while, until the hospital starts to see not only a drop in people showing up with flu-like symptoms, but also fewer people in the hospital, fewer staff members out sick and state and local data showing cases are steadily declining.

Cawcutt said she doesn’t think that’s likely to happen any time soon. She said the drop in cases is likely a blip reflecting that fewer people were going to the doctor or being tested because of the holidays. And it also came after what was a sharp rise in cases this early in the season.

“I think the rapid increase of patients and the volume of patients we're seeing this early is concerning that we may have a significantly more severe influenza season than we have had in the recent past,” she said.

Cawcutt stressed that there are a number of things people can do to to help reduce the spread of illnesses, including getting a flu shot, practicing good hand hygiene and staying home when they are sick or wearing a mask if they have to go out.