GPs and urgent care clinics across Launceston have recorded a spike in seasonal respiratory illnesses just days out from the start of winter.
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For several months, doctors have warned influenza and winter illnesses would rise to levels not seen since pre-COVID following the relaxation of masks and social distancing protocols.
GP Dr Jerome Muir Wilson runs the Launceston respiratory clinic and said the clinic had experienced a 50 per cent rise in people presenting with flu-like symptoms in the past two weeks.
He said the most common illness at the clinic was influenza, but there has also been a rise in common winter colds and COVID-19 cases.
Dr Muir Wilson was not the only GP to record a rise in cases, with fellow GP Dr Toby Gardner - who runs the Newstead Medical urgent care centre - also seeing influenza and seasonal cold cases double over the past week.
Dr Gardner said many people were presenting with the common cold for the first time in years following a drop off in natural immunity and its absence from the community during COVID.
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The spike in cases coincided with an announcement that the Department of Health would offer free flu vaccines this weekend in a statewide vaccination blitz.
With GPs already recording a doubling of respiratory illnesses, state health commander Kathrine Morgan-Wicks said she expected the number of cases to "rapidly rise" in the coming days.
She said the Health Department had made thousands of vaccinations available with immunising teams in regional and metropolitan centres this weekend.
Community clinics run by the Tasmanian vaccination operations centre will also offer both flu and COVID vaccines for people aged five years and over, allowing for both doses in one setting.
Ms Morgan-Wicks said as of June 4, state-run clinics would also expand their vaccination program by offering flu vaccines to children six months and over.
Dr Miur Wilson said even though the common cold was less severe than influenza and COVID-19, people should seek help if they experience shortness of breath or chest pain.
He said even if people returned a negative rapid antigen test, social distancing and wearing a mask would help mitigate the spread of the illness.
"Just because people don't have COVID we don't want to see people out and about, if you are sick stay home and don't go to work," he said.
Dr Miur Wilson said to manage the demand the Launceston respiratory clinic had doubled the number of doctors and nurses working so anyone with symptoms could be seen within 24-hours.
He said the clinic would also offer antiviral COVID treatments for people who were in a high-risk group or immunocompromised.
Dr Gardner said while masks and social distancing were still the best measure for protecting against the common cold, emerging evidence indicated a flu vaccine could prime the immune system and offer some protection against other viruses for about a month.
Vaccination clinics will be operating this Sunday in the North at Launceston, Invermay and Somerset, while standing clinics will operate in Launceston, Burnie and Devonport all next week.
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