Thread by @DrEricDing

⚠️Young people dying of #COVID19 faster than ever—as US surpasses 700,000 death milestone—those who died were younger. ➡️ In August, every age group <55 had its **highest death toll of the pandemic**. Top death: Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas.
nytimes.com/2021/10/01/us/…

2) It’s not a big surprise that #COVID19 deaths follow areas of lowest vaccinations.

3) About 40 percent of the most recent 100,000 people to die of the virus were under 65, a share higher than at any other point in the pandemic.

4) “Now you’re dealing with people in their 30s and 40s and 50s. These are people who, without the pandemic, they would almost certainly be alive and live full lives. It’s so much worse now than it was when the pandemic first happened. #DeltaVariant is tremendously worse.”

5) Sometimes the deaths are incredibly young and tragic and avoidable. Like this 20 year old who contracted #COVID19 2 days after arriving at @UNCWilmington. Blood is on @UNC_System’s hands for not requiring vaccinations on campus.

https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1442828622616739843

6) COVID in kids is no longer rare, and kids are now dying faster than before. As schools reopen, over the past month, with K through 12th grade in session, the US has reported ~ 1 million cases among those under 18. And over 100 kids have died in the past 5 weeks alone (AAP).

7) We need urgent action to protect kids in schools now— starting with mask mandates, but also distributing to families upgraded KF94 & KN95 masks, weekly free testing for students, and improving ventilation and air disinfection in schools! And mass frequent testing!

8) Just how much more severe is #DeltaVariant in kids mortality? Data from Florida among kids <16 show that the case fatality ratio (CFR) in kids has now climbed 3.5x more than pre Delta! To now 1 death for every 10,000 infected. 👀

Figure by @DrWilliamKu