Protect yourself from COVID-19, Flu, and RSV
It’s common to get sick from respiratory viruses such as COVID-19, flu, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), especially in the fall and winter. Each year, respiratory viruses are responsible for millions of illnesses and thousands of hospitalizations and deaths in the United States.
Core Prevention Strategies
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all people use core prevention strategies to protect yourself and others from respiratory virus illnesses.
- Stay up to date with your vaccines:
- Get your flu shot. Everyone age six months or older should be vaccinated every year.
- Stay up to date on your COVID-19 vaccinations, including your 2023-24 COVID-19 vaccine.
- Learn about RSV immunizations for at-risk populations.
- Practice good hygiene by covering your coughs and sneezes, washing or sanitizing your hands often, and cleaning frequently touched surfaces.
- Take steps for cleaner air to increase ventilation and circulation
- When you may have a respiratory virus:
- Use precautions to prevent spread. Stay home and away from others until your symptoms are getting better for 24 hours and you’re fever free without fever-reducing meds for 24 hours. Then take added precautions for next 5 days.
- Seek health care right away for testing and/or treatment if you have risk factors for severe illness. Treatment for flu or COVID-19 may help lower your risk of severe illness.
Additional Prevention Strategies
You can choose from these additional prevention strategies to further protect yourself and others:
Layering Prevention Strategies
All these prevention strategies can help reduce your risk of getting sick. Layering prevention strategies can be especially helpful when:
- Respiratory viruses are causing a lot of illness in your community.
- You or the people around you were recently exposed to a respiratory virus, are sick, or are recovering.
- You or the people around you have risk factors for severe illness.
- You may not be aware of the things that can make others more vulnerable to serious illness. Using the core prevention strategies will provide some protection no matter what. If you are unsure about the health condition or risk status of those around you, the most protective option is choosing to use additional prevention strategies, like masking, physical distancing, and testing.
Where to get care
Hospital emergency departments in Rhode Island are currently very crowded. Children and adults in emergency departments with less serious health issues are experiencing long wait times. If you or your child does not need emergency medical care, please do not go to the emergency department. Long waits in the emergency department are frustrating, and they expose you and your family to new sicknesses.
Many respiratory viruses can be treated more quicky and effectively by a primary care doctor or in an urgent care facility than in an emergency department.
Contact your pediatrician or primary care provider if you believe you or your child need medical care. Your provider can offer advice on whether an in-person evaluation is needed and the best location (doctor's office, urgent care, emergency room) for care.
RIDOH has lists of primary care providers, urgent care facilities, and health centers online.
For more information on non-emergency treatment options and when to seek emergency medical care, visit Right Place, Right Care.
Respiratory Virus Prevention Tips
Learn More
Stay Up-to-Date
Data Notes
- The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) usually updates Rhode Island respiratory virus data every Thursday by noon ET.
- Weekly RIDOH data mirrors the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) data week of Sunday through Saturday.
- Except for flu vaccination coverage, all respiratory virus activity reflects data through Saturday of the last reported week.
- RIDOH starts collecting COVID-19 and flu vaccination data for the season in August and starts reporting on vaccination coverage in September.
- RIDOH updates COVID-19 vaccination data weekly through the end of July. Data reflect COVID-19 vaccination coverage among Rhode Island residents from August through Saturday of the last reported week.
- RIDOH updates flu vaccination data weekly through April 1. Data reflect flu vaccination coverage among Rhode Island residents from August through two Saturdays ago, a one-week lag compared to COVID-19.
RIDOH uses data from the National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP) to track the percentage of emergency department visits in Rhode Island that have a discharge diagnosis of COVID-19, flu, or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Hospitals provide discharge diagnosis data about the diagnosed illness, injury, or condition associated with a particular emergency department visit. These data, which include non-residents, can indicate increased spread of respiratory illness in the state.
- Increasing activity signals an increase of at least 0.1% in reported discharge diagnoses over the last reported week compared to the week before.
- Decreasing activity signals a decrease of at least 0.1% in reported discharge diagnoses over the last reported week compared to the week before.
- Stable activity signals no change in the percentage of discharge diagnoses over the last reported week compared to the week before.
The number of people with a 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine or a 2023-2024 flu vaccine reflects Rhode Island residents who have gotten at least one dose of that vaccine and have a record in the Rhode Island Child and Adult Immunization Registry (RICAIR). RIDOH only counts a person once each year for each of these vaccines no matter how many doses they have gotten.
