Deaths are the most difficult metric to track. They are the least timely and the past is often adjusted upward retroactively
I personally track hospitalizations the most . I think it is the most timely and accurate metric
I track all of the metrics (cases, hospitalizations, deaths), but the point you mentioned has merit.
Based on reading various articles, I do see that a few states (counties/regions might be more accurate) are seeing some increase in hospitalizations and hospital officials have noted that its because of the Delta variant and that its effecting younger adults. Not too surprising, its in locations where vaccination rates are low. I'm not saying its widespread at this time, but it seems like this is something to watch closely which I expect officials are in fact doing.
The map you show (top of #933), are they using hospitalizations as one of their metrics or criteria for ranking & color coding?
Update - I looked it up. So it appears the Covid Act Now site tracks ICU capacity but not hospitalization. See the excerpt from the website below.
Risk levels & key metrics
Covid Act Now uses six key metrics to assess COVID across U.S. states, metros, and counties. Three of these—
daily new cases (incidence),
infection rate (RT) and
positive test rate—assess a location's overall risk level. The other three—
ICU capacity used,
% vaccinated and
vulnerability—reflect a location's ability to protect itself and recover from COVID. Below, learn more about each metric and how it is assessed.
