A young mother had just celebrated her first wedding anniversary and was one of six members of a Jacksonville church to die over a 10-day span. Another Florida woman had just given birth to her first child, but was only able to hold the newborn girl for a few moments before dying.

The Covid-19 death toll has started soaring again as the Delta variant tears through the United States' unvaccinated population and fills up hospitals with patients, many of whom are younger than during earlier phases of the pandemic.

The US is now averaging about 650 deaths a day, increasing more than 80 per cent from two weeks ago and going past the 600 mark for the first time in three months.

Data on the age and demographics of victims during the Delta surge is still limited, but hospitals in virus hotspots say they are clearly seeing more admissions and deaths among people under the age of 65.

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