Latest COVID-19 wave likely to cause another 115,000 U.S. deaths by year-end, analysts say

The surge in COVID-19 linked to the rapidly spreading Delta variant is likely to kill at least 100,000 more Americans by year-end, Wall Street analysts predict.

RBC Capital Markets in a research note this week projected an additional 115,000 deaths in the U.S. this year, basing its forecast on factors including the growing number of hospitalizations, local virus transmission rates and the pace of vaccinations against the disease. That figure could climb, the investment bank added, if hospital emergency rooms and intensive care units become overwhelmed by sick patients in the coming weeks. Nearly 619,000 Americans have died of COVID-19 so far during the pandemic, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.