(Radio Iowa) – Health officials are encouraging Iowans to get flu shots as soon as possible. The experts say Australia is already experiencing its worst flu season in five years, which could indicate it will also be severe in the U-S. Nola Aigner -Davis, spokeswoman for the Polk County Health Department in Des Moines, says the county is still seeing many COVID-19 cases and its hospital system is again strained.

“We really need to still be good to our hospital and healthcare systems,” Aigner-Davis says, “because they’re still in a staffing shortage from COVID-19. They’re still taking care of very sick individuals.” Since early 2020, more than 46-thousand Iowans have been hospitalized for treatment of COVID, while the state’s death toll from the virus is expected to exceed 10-thousand when the official numbers are released on Wednesday.

“We’re not seeing COVID slow down,” she says. “We keep hearing of people getting sick, being hospitalized. Cases aren’t stopping and you can get COVID and the flu at the same time.” Aigner-Davis says people who are interested can get a flu shot and a COVID booster in one visit, while Iowans who think they have the flu should contact their doctor for guidance. In the past few years, Iowa’s average life expectancy has fallen about a year-and-a-half due to COVID.

(reporting by Natalie Krebs, Iowa Public Radio)