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

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.

Partial CDC data suggest that influenza deaths may have already reached as high as 2% of deaths for the week ending on Feb. 1, also surpassing COVID-19 mortality nationwide which was holding at around 1.5%. More complete data is expected to be published Friday.