COVID hospitalizations are still leading to deaths, even if the reporting of those deaths may have been delayed.

The Panhandle Health District reported 15 additional deaths on Tuesday. Those new deaths may be due to the backlog of cases in the district.

In Spokane County, 18 COVID-related deaths were reported in the last week alone.

The delta variant has led to a massive surge in hospitalizations in the Inland Northwest and subsequent deaths. In both Washington and Idaho, the vast majority of hospitalized COVID patients and those who die from the virus are unvaccinated.

In Washington state from February through July, 92.4% of COVID deaths were in people who had not been vaccinated against the virus.

Kootenai Health and Spokane-area hospitals also continue to experience record-high hospitalizations for COVID-19 as the delta surge rages.

Among the four Spokane County hospitals and Kootenai Health, there are currently 318 people hospitalized with the virus.

Spokane County is exceeding its former highest weekly hospitalization rate, which peaked during the winter surge, data from the health district show.

Case counts have yet to slow down in the region. Spokane County has a case count of 751 cases per 100,000 residents for the last week.

Here’s a look at local numbersThe Spokane Regional Health District reported 292 new COVID-19 cases and three additional deaths.

There have been 740 deaths due to COVID-19 in Spokane County .

There are 221 people in Spokane County hospitals being treated for the virus.

The Panhandle Health District confirmed 254 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday and 15 additional deaths.

There have been 373 deaths due to the virus in Panhandle residents.

There are 102 Panhandle residents hospitalized with the virus.