Health
US Winter Flu Deaths Outpace Covid for First Time in Five Years
- Flu has killed at least 16,000 people so far this season: CDC
- Low vaccination rates, treatment delays are major challenges
Since Covid began spreading widely in early 2020, it has killed almost 42 times more people in the US than the flu.
Photographer: Nora Savosnick/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Influenza is overtaking Covid-19 as the deadlier virus in the US this winter — the first time in five years the seasonal illness has surpassed the pandemic pathogen.
Since Covid began spreading widely in early 2020, it has killed almost 42 times more people in the US than the flu. Yet preliminary mortality data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that 2025 is emerging as a pivotal year for influenza.