In this edition of our 5 Slide Series, we return to presenting COVID death trends, as the pandemic’s recent resurgence merits significant attention. Average daily deaths across the prior 7-day period were 361 on June 13, 274 on July 13, 650 on August 13, and 1,827 on September 13. Every two days, more Americans are currently dying of COVID than perished in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. We break down these death numbers by state political lean, finding that states with Republican governors and majority Trump 2020 vote share have much higher per capita death rates, and compose a disproportionate share of national deaths compared to their share of the population.

We also briefly review another concerning COVID trend – pediatric cases and hospitalizations. At the end of last month, pediatric COVID caseloads were already roughly equivalent to their mid-January peak, and are growing quickly. Since the first week of June, pediatric cases have grown over 1,400% to over 240,000 new weekly cases, and pediatric cases now compose 30% of all new cases – the highest level during the pandemic so far. Pediatric COVID hospitalizations are also at their all-time high, and are currently on an almost vertical percentage incline. We also find states with a larger share of children vaccinated have lower pediatric hospitalization rates. Now that schools have reopened, we will be closely tracking pediatric hospitalizations and deaths. Future editions will convey pediatric state-level COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations based upon states’ school policies related to COVID.