Miscellaneous
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for February 9th, 2021. The United States reported a 25% drop in new cases last week, the biggest fall since the pandemic started. In fact, new cases have now fallen four weeks in a row to the lowest level since early November, according to a Reuters analysis. The steepest drop was in California, where cases fell 48%. Only Oregon, Arkansas and Vermont saw cases rise. Updated statistics from Russia on coronavirus-linked deaths showed 162,429 people with COVID-19 died last year. That number is significantly far higher than previously reported. And the lower count is used in numbers released by the World Health Organization. December accounted for the highest number of Russian deaths since April. The number of COVID-19 patients in ICU in French hospitals reached its highest number in more than two months. And hospitalizations rose for the second straight day. France has not imposed a third national lockdown, hoping a curfew in place since Dec. 15 and a strong vaccine rollout would keep the virus in check.Rep. Ron Wright of Texas died Sunday after having been hospitalized for Covid-19. That’s the first Covid-related death of a sitting U.S. Congressperson, however Wright had also been battling cancer. He was 67. He tested positive more than two weeks ago and said at the time his symptoms were minor and he felt okay.Guess we should have listened when our dentists nagged us about flossing. A new study suggests Covid-19 patients with gum disease are nine times more likely to die with the virus. They were also 3.5 times more likely to be admitted to ICU and 4.5 times more likely to need a ventilator. The theory is inflammation in the mouth may open the door to the coronavirus becoming more violent. In the United States cases were down 31%, deaths are down 8%, and hospitalizations down 26% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending down since January 25th. There are now 9,711,640 active cases in the United States. The current top 5 states by number of active cases: California, New York, Florida, Arizona, and Georgia. The top 10 counties with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Aleutians East Borough, AK. Burleson, TX. Lincoln, CO. Crowley, CO. Cleveland, AR. Mills, TX. Crockett, TX. Oldham, TX. McCormick, SC. And San Saba, TX. The five states with the highest risk levels and most daily new cases per capita over 7 days are Maine, Texas, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Arkansas. There’ve been a total 464,845 deaths in the US reported as COVID-related, with a current national fatality rate of 1.72%.The states with the most new deaths reported as COVID-related: California 238. New York 150. Florida 119. Texas 100. Tennessee 97. Kansas 86. Connecticut 68. Indiana 58. Massachusetts 55. And Virginia 42. The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that’s had at least one dose are Alaska at 14.5%, West Virginia at 12.1%, and New Mexico at 11.7%. The bottom 3 are Iowa at 7.5%, Alabama at 7.7%, and Missouri 7.8%.Globally, cases were down 23%, and deaths down 10% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending down since January 11. Globally, there are 25,672,302 active cases.The five countries with the most new cases: the United States 87,031. Brazil 25,661. Spain 19,305. Russia 15,916. And the U.K. 14,104. There have now been 2,324,794 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide. For the latest updates, subscribe for free to Coronavirus 411 on your podcast app or ask your smart speaker to play the Coronavirus 411 podcast. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.