Since about August 27 I have been spending 14 to 16 hours per day with a very demanding Hurricane Ida and her consequences. Except for related hospitalizations in southeast Louisiana I did not pay attention to the pandemic until September 9 and 10.
What I then found was that US hospitalizations had peaked during the last week in August, consistent with prior projections (here and here). But social and political reaction to the Delta variants surge was, if anything, still rising.
Per the data display below, Israel’s and UK’s experience demonstrate that Delta’s ferocity can be diminished but transmission, disease, and hospitalizations have not (yet) shown the precipitous drop that typified prior waves. With a lower rate of overall vaccination, it would be surprising if US results depart from this pattern.
