COVINGTON, KY — It's still pretty early in the cold and flu season, but there's already a spike in cases and hospitalizations—both nationally and locally—so the Emergency Shelter of NKY is asking for donations of over-the-counter cold and flu medications for its clinic.
The clinic is new, since the shelter relocated last spring.
"When you ask them if they need cough drops, they can come in here. High blood pressure. They're going to come in and check," said Kim Webb, director of the shelter.
It's staffed by an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) and UK College of Medicine students. There's a cabinet with everything someone experiencing homelessness might need, from Band-Aids and Ibuprofen to cold and flu medicine.
These are mostly things shelter staff aren't allowed to hand out.
"Since May we've been open and this is really the first big surge we're seeing in this area," Webb said.
The surge they're seeing is the same spike in flu cases seen across the country. Dr. Steve Feagins said this early spike could stick around.
"It's most likely that we will have a prolonged level of influenza just given the fact that we haven't seen it in a couple of years," he said.
With this in mind the Emergency Shelter of NKY is asking for the public's help. It has an Amazon wishlist with the most needed cold and flu items. You can find the wishlist here.
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