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.

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.

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