CNN reports:

As the Delta variant rapidly spreads, US hot spots have seen climbing case numbers — and an expert warns a “surprising amount of death” from Covid-19 could soon follow.

The US is averaging about 19,455 new cases over the last seven days, a 47% increase from the week prior, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. And a third of those, CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner said, come from five hot spots: Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri and Nevada.

“In places like Missouri where ICUs are packed, you’re going to see a surprising amount of death,” Reiner said on Sunday.

At Mercy Hospital in Springfield, Missouri, 91% of ICU patients are on ventilators and many are in their 20s, 30s and 40s, Chief Administrative Officer Erik Frederick told CNN on Saturday. That is especially concerning, he said, because at the peak last year there were only 40 to 50% of ICU patients on ventilators.

Typically, spikes in Covid-19 cases leads to a rise in death rates three to four weeks later as a small percentage of the infected are hospitalized and deteriorate. “We will start to see an increase in mortality in this country,” Reiner said.

What is particularly frustrating for many experts, Reiner said, is that the deaths are “completely avoidable” now that vaccines are available. But about one-third of those 12 and older in the US haven’t received the vaccine yet, CDC data shows. [Continue reading…]