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Low flu numbers this fall
CLARION citrus college
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ccclarion.com Volume LXXVI • Issue 5 Tuesday, November 22, 2022
BY ROBERT DAVIS
MANAGING EDITOR
RDAVIS@CCCLARION.COM
Flu season has officially started, but Citrus avoided a bad beginning to flu season. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicted in midOctober that flu season was going to start early, despite flu activity being relatively low. “Flu season in Los Angeles County is typically the first week of October through the end of March.” writes the L.A. County Department of Public Health “However, flu circulates throughout the year.” According to the CDC, a possible reason for a bad flu season this winter may be due to relatively light flu seasons in the past two years. Although being a good thing overall, good flu seasons can lead to decreased population immunity, particularly for children who may have never had the flu before or people who haven’t been vaccinated. The early start to flu season has not had a great effect on Citrus. Citrus College Nurse Dr. Shauna Bigby said in mid-October that she has not seen an increase in flu cases at Citrus, but students and staff should still be careful as “a bad flu season would potentially affect class attendance and could affect the number of people that attend inperson events,” she wrote. One person at Citrus affected by the flu is professor Dr. Jennifer Miller-Thayer of Social and Behavioral Sciences, who had to miss in person classes to recover from her illness. Miller-Thayer experienced symptoms including fatigue, muscle soreness, sneezing, runny nose and coughing. Miller-Thayer said her method of treatment was staying hydrated with tea, Emergen-C and lots of water, in addition to reducing her workload so she could get as much rest as possible. Bigby also provided some tips on how to avoid getting the flu in the first place, which included avoiding close contact, covering one’s mouth and nose, cleaning one’s hands and avoiding touching one’s eyes, nose or mouth. Another way to avoid gettuing the flu and flattening the curve this flu season is to get vaccinated. GetMyFluShot.org says that last flu season, vaccinated people were 35% less likely to get the flu, and vaccines are readily available and affordable. “Most insurance plans cover flu vaccines at no cost to you.” writes GetMyFluShot.org. “You can get vaccinated at your doctor’s office or find locations to get a flu shot at most pharmacies, county health departments and urgent care centers. If you don’t have insurance, you can still get a free or low-cost flu shot at your local community clinic or public health department.”
RHYS TEUBER - STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Citrus’ Jayden Johnston fights with Long Beach City College’s Reginald Johnson Jr. for the rebound during the Owl’s 83-80 win over the Vikings on Nov. 8. Visit http://www.ccclarion.com for the full slideshow.
Who is afraid of the big, bad coyotes? STORY BY ASHTON NIEVES
STAFF REPORTER
ANIEVES@CCCLARION.COM
ART BY LINA CARDINAS
FREELANCE CONTRIBUTOR
LCARDINAS@CCCLARION.COM
Sightings of coyotes on campus have been reported, including in the parking lot areas. This information was collected by the Citrus College Campus security and it was reported on Oct. 6. As winter nears, coyotes begin to make their way down the foothills with the intent of hunting for food. The Citrus Community College District forwarded information from wildlife experts, such as the
California Department of Fish and Wildlife. “Normally coyotes are elusive animals and avoid any contact with humans. They are more active after dusk and before daylight.” The California Department of Fish and Wildlife said, “people should make themselves as large as possible and stand up straight and wave their arms over their heads. People need to stay animated and speak forcefully at a coyote directly if it poses a threat. Other measures people should take if needed is to
m a k e l o u d noises a n d t h r o w rocks at the coyote if followed, and to always look directly at it and never run away or turn y o u r b a c k from it.”
Control said. “A lot of it has to do with searching for food sources, but it also plays in with humans taking up their land, the weather, and wildfires that occur.”
Aldaco said coyotes that come down from the mountains “are very smart and see patterns with their prey. They’ve realized the easy sources of prey in residential areas and will jump into a yard and take a dog or cat if they can.” Despite many cases occurring of animals being attacked or killed by coyotes.“There aren’t any high cases of human deaths The Citrus Community College district also came out with a statement which said, “feeding, harming, harassing, or medicating wild animals on campus is strongly discouraged. Please do not leave food for any animals on campus since this may attract coyotes.” Stephanie Aldaco, specialist with Glendora Animal Control said, “Coyotes at this time mostly come down the foothills for many reasons,” Stephanie Aldaco, specialist with Glendora Animal
or attacks. The last recorded case of a coyote attacking a human was in Long Beach. Coyotes see
humans as a food source and they won’t hesitate to attack a baby or a small kid if left unattended,” Adlaco said. “If coyotes enter campus, it will generally be common early in the morning from around 5 to 6 o’ clock,” Adalco said. She gave a safety precaution to everyone who owns a pet and said, “leave your pet inside early in the morning and late at night if possible, since that’s when the coyotes are most active in residential areas.” Elizabeth Cook, a librarian at Hayden Memorial Library, said “I have seen coyotes mostly out in the parking lot in front of the library by LI 120. I haven’t seen packs. There are usually one or two coyotes lurking around the area sometimes.” “They were here first. They’re something we should learn to coexist with. Yeah, they could follow people and we should be concerned to a degree, but we shouldn’t take drastic action, like killing them or anything,” Cook said.