Weekly numbers show that 2% of U.S. deaths for week 5 were due to the flu. COVID was responsible for 1.5% of deaths in the nation, the numbers show.

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.

Flu continues to be one of the most common and alarming seasonal illnesses. In the period spanning from 2023 to 2024, there were approximately 40 million cases of flu, and thousands of hospitalizations along with reported 47 deaths have been reported this season.

A slimmed-down MMWR resumed publication last week but included none of the bird flu reports. Public health experts have criticized the unprecedented break in publication and the h