Delta peaked at 2k in September so theoretically it isn't out of the question.
I'd say it's unlikely for the variant that's being called "transmissible but mild."
If COVID is on death certificates with comorbidities then a more transmissible variant is inherently deadlier.
You can write anything you like on a death certificate. The coroner is under no real legal obligation to write an accurate cause of death, even if that cause is apparent and obvious.
Unless an autopsy was performed each and every time (and even that's not a guarantee of finding a cause, it's a scientific guess) there's no way of knowing, beyond tests we know are already of poor quality, what killed the person. What's written on a piece of paper is meaningless except as a legal requirement to fill out a document with certain information.
You can write "Cause of death: Cardiac arrest due to penetration from unicorn horn" and it's perfectly fine.
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