Deaths are not an entirely useful measure to see how the pandemic is progressing because they are a lagging indicator. Positive test rates measure what was hap

Deaths are not an entirely useful measure to see how the pandemic is progressing because they are a lagging indicator. Positive test rates measure what was happening about a week ago. Hospital admissions reflect activity a week or two before that, and deaths often get reported a month or more after the events that caused people to get infected. You have to look at all the data to get an idea of what is happening.