By this winter, though, many of these interventions had gone by the wayside, or at least weren’t being as strictly enforced or practiced. And early on, it did appear as though the flu would return to its old form. But despite some large outbreaks and the occasional case of an unlucky co-infection with both the flu and the coronavirus, the flu remained much tamer than usual. According to the CDC’s estimates, there have only been 2.3 million flu cases, 22,000 hospitalizations, and 1,300 deaths this winter—far below the numbers you would see from even the mildest flu seasons prior to the pandemic (the low-end average number of deaths pre-covid was around 12,000). There is a chance that flu cases could still see a jump in some areas, but this is about when the season begins to end…

States might completely abandon mask mandates, for instance, but that doesn’t mean that you personally can’t wear masks in certain high-risk situations (notably, in some Asian countries pre-covid, mask-wearing during the flu season was routinely practiced). More people might choose to skip social gatherings or to stay home from work when they feel the sniffles coming on, provided that their workplaces actually have paid sick leave policies. Handwashing, which doesn’t seem to do much for covid-19 but can prevent the spread of the flu and common colds, might continue to enjoy a renaissance. More effort can also be made to contain outbreaks in high-risk environments, like nursing homes. And in the not-so-distant future, we may even have improved flu vaccines.