Flu is killing more people than COVID in California, health officials say. What’s going on?
More people are dying from the flu in California than from COVID-19, according to the California Department of Public Health.
The state is experiencing an unusually high number of influenza cases during the 2024-2025 respiratory season, state health agency data show, leading to a worrying trend in flu-related deaths.
UC Davis Children’s Hospital in Sacramento has seen “five or 10 times more influenza (patients) than COVID (patients)” in 2025 alone, according to Dr. Dean Blumberg, the hospital’s chief of pediatric infectious diseases.
A total of 11 children died from the flu in California between June 30 and Feb. 8, the California Public Health Department’s weekly report shows.
That total accounts for about 16% of all pediatric influenza deaths in the country this respiratory virus season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
While most influenza cases at UC Davis Children’s Hospital don’t require hospital admissions, Blumberg said, a small percentage of children had to be admitted to the hospital for more severe flu cases.
“This is a busy time of year, but we certainly have the capacity (to handle influenza cases),” he said.
How bad is influenza in California?
During the week ending Feb. 8, about 26.7% of tests for the flu came back positive, according to the most recent California Department of Public Health’s weekly respiratory virus report.
The only time California saw a higher flu test positivity rate in the past five respiratory virus seasons was during the week ending Feb. 1, according to the report.
That week, 27.8% of flu tests were positive in California.
For the first time since 2020, the percentage of deaths attributable to the flu is higher than deaths attributed to COVID-19 in California, according to the state Public Health Department.
Between Feb. 2 and Feb. 8, about 3.4% of those who died in the state between Feb. 2 and Feb. 8 had influenza listed as a cause of death, Grant Boyken, a spokesman for the agency told The Sacramento Bee via email.
Coronavirus-related deaths accounted for 1.3% of deaths in California in the same time frame, according to the state health department’s weekly respiratory illness report.
The influenza death rate jumped sharply from the week ending Feb. 1, where 2% of all California deaths
were attributed at least partially to the flu.
Boyken said that the death rate was only 0.4% in early February 2024.
Why is respiratory virus so severe this year?
Boyken said it’s normal for the flu’s severity to vary yearly based on differences in the specific strain circulating along with “other factors.”
Health experts suggest circulation of highly pathogenic avian influenza — also known as bird flu —and lower vaccination rates have contributed to a severe flu season.
How long will flu levels stay high in California?
While flu rates are expected to stay high based on trends from past seasons, severe cases may have already hit their peak, according to the California Department of Public Health.
The state health agency’s virus forecasting tool can predict how many flu-related hospitalizations there may be in California within the next month by referencing its own models and data from the CDC.
On Feb. 1, the state had more than 4,300 hospitalizations due to the flu, which has since fallen to about 2,570 admissions.
By March 9, there could be up to 2,225 people hospitalized with the flu in California, forecasts show.
What are common flu symptoms?
“Many respiratory viruses, including influenza, RSV and COVID-19, can cause cold-like symptoms,” the California Department of Public Health told The Sacramento Bee in 2024.
According to the CDC, common flu symptoms include: Fever or feeling feverish/chills, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscles or body aches, headaches, fatigue (tiredness).
Symptoms usually appear suddenly for those with the flu, the CDC said, while COVID-19 symptoms may appear two to 14 days after exposure to the virus.
Should I get vaccinated against the flu?
One way to reduce the risk of contracting the flu is to get vaccinated each year. Doing so can reduce the risk of catching the virus by up to 60%, according to the American Medical Association.
Influenza type A and influenza type B are two types of strains that circulate each year.
Influenza A is most commonly seen earlier in the respiratory virus season, with influenza B usually becoming more dominant in the latter part, Blumberg said.
State health data linked influenza A to the overwhelming majority of flu cases in California as of Feb. 8.
“Even if you get influenza now, or even if you avoid influenza (type) A now, there’s still a risk of later in the season getting another strain of influenza,” Blumberg said. “It’s not too late to get vaccinated against flu.”
Blumberg said there has not been a change in the percentage of UC Davis Children’s Hospital patients who are vaccinated for the flu each year, which typically hovers around 50%.
“The influenza vaccine is not a perfect vaccine, no vaccine is, but we know that it can prevent severe cases of influenza,” Blumberg said, especially when it comes to “breakthrough cases.”
“People who get influenza despite vaccination ... recover faster,” he said. “They’re less sick.
“It’s certainly, certainly better to be vaccinated than not,” Blumberg added.
This story was originally published February 21, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Flu is killing more people than COVID in California, health officials say. What’s going on?."
