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

For the week ending on January 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 February 1, also surpassing COVID-19 mortality nationwide which was holding at around 1.5%. More complete data is expected to be published Friday.

In 22 US states, the rate of influenza deaths has been outpacing COVID-19 deaths throughout the first five weeks of 2025.

The gap between flu and COVID-19 deaths is biggest in California, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon and Wyoming, where the percentage of weekly deaths from flu are at least double those from COVID-19.