Flu deaths may have surpassed COVID deaths nationwide for first time since start of pandemic, early CDC data suggests

February 18, 2025

Digitally enhanced image of a coronavirus

(CBS News) – For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, more people in the U.S. died of influenza than from COVID-19 in the week ending on Jan. 25, according to weekly figures published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For the week ending on Jan. 25, nearly 1.7% of all deaths nationwide were attributed to the flu, compared to roughly 1.5% being the result of COVID-19, according to CDC data. Rates of influenza hospitalizations are more than three times higher than COVID-19 hospitalizations amid this season’s record wave of flu infections. (Read More)