'Too many uncertainties' to say pandemic is over amidst holiday surge in respiratory viruses: Friday, Dec. 30

Clinics and hospitals have been slammed with flu patients for the last several months, and now doctors are starting to see some more COVID-19 circulating. The full impact holiday gatherings had on viral spread won’t be obvious for a few more weeks but Thanksgiving did lead to an increase in flu and COVID-19 cases.There are at least two dozen different variants of COVID-19 spreading in Mecklenburg County. The latest data shows Omicron subvariant BQ.1.1 is the most dominant.READ MORE: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/health/holidays-impacting-viral-spread-health/275-06b318c8-d619-4622-a2c9-d3cde63af0a3Southwest Airlines said it expects to return to normal operations Friday after more than a week of widespread flight cancellations that started with a winter storm and spiraled out of control because of a breakdown with staffing technology.If Thursday turns out to be the last day of the Southwest crisis, it will be marked by about 2,350 canceled flights, nearly 60% of the airline's schedule.READ MORE: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/nation-world/southwest-flight-chaos-continues/507-3a4befa3-7465-4f95-87df-a2ecc195ca67Watch Wake Up Charlotte each weekday morning from 4:30 to 7 a.m. on WCNC Charlotte, and as always, join the conversation on social media using #WakeUpCLT!