ST. PAUL — The Minnesota Department of Health said across the state, 36 people were newly hospitalized with influenza during the week ending Saturday. That brings total hospitalizations in the state to 104 so far this season.

The new hospitalizations were a 50 percent increase over 24 new hospitalizations the previous week, according to numbers released Thursday.

Health Department spokesman Doug Shultz said that “things are starting to increase.”

More Minnesotans were hospitalized with flu a year ago at this time — 173 new hospitalizations were reported during the comparable week in 2012.

But Schultz said it’s too early to know how the current flu season ultimately will compare with last season, which was Minnesota’s worst flu season in five years.