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RESPIRATORY VIRUS INFORMATION

September 8, 2026 - Adult and child seasonal flu shots are now available in our Public Health Clinic. Please call 203-630-4234 to make your appointment.

Meriden - We can hold a flu shot clinic at your business or organization - please call our Public Health Clinic to schedule. At this time we are not offering the COVID-19 or RSV vaccines.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued Respiratory Virus Guidance which has been adopted by the Connecticut Department of Public Health (CT DPH).

CDC’s guidance provides practical recommendations and information to help people lower health risks posed by a range of common respiratory viral illnesses, including COVID-19, Influenza (flu) and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV).

Respiratory Virus Guidance Preventing Spread

 

RESPIRATORY VIRUS GUIDANCE SNAPSHOT

Core Prevention Strategies:

ADDITIONAL PREVENTION STRATEGIES

WHEN YOU MAY HAVE A RESPIRATORY VIRUS...‎

Stay home and away from others (including people you live with who are not sick) if you have respiratory virus symptoms that aren't better explained by another cause. These symptoms can include fever, chills, fatigue, cough, runny nose, and headache, among others.*

You can go back to your normal activities when, for at least 24 hours, both are true:

  • Your symptoms are getting better overall, and

  • You have not had a fever (and are not using fever-reducing medication).

When you go back to your normal activities:

Take added precaution over the next 5 days, such as taking additional steps for cleaner air, hygiene, masks, physical distancing, and/or testing when you will be around other people indoors.

  • Keep in mind that you may still be able to spread the virus that made you sick, even if you are feeling better. You are likely to be less contagious at this time, depending on factors like how long you were sick or how sick you were.

  • If you develop a fever or you start to feel worse after you have gone back to normal activities, stay home and away from others again until, for at least 24 hours, both are true: your symptoms are improving overall, and you have not had a fever (and are not using fever-reducing medication). Then take added precaution for the next 5 days.

 

FOR HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS

In August 2025 the CT Department of Public Health released a guidance document titled "Interim Local Guidance for Management of Healthcare Personnel with Suspect or Confirmed COVID-19, Influenza, and Other Acute Respiratory Viral Infections".  This guidance applies to healthcare personnel with suspected or confirmed SARS-CoV-2, seasonal influenza, and other acute respiratory viral infections, regardless of whether diagnostic testing for viral pathogens is performed or the results of such testing.

DATA

Looking for the local snapshot on respiratory virus data in New Haven county? Click here for the CDC Respiratory Data Illness Channel, updated every Friday with information on COVID-19, Flu, and RSV in our county. CT DPH has also relaunched their respiratory virus dashboard.

Local case count reporting will start October 1, 2026, and continue through April 30, 2027.