Miscellaneous
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for February 15th, 2021. Average daily new cases in the U.S. dipped below 100,000 recently for the first time in months. The average dropped below 100,000 Friday for the first time since Nov. 4. and stayed below 100,000 Saturday. The CDC says the country is still at about 100,000 cases a day and around 1,500 to 3,500 deaths per day. Speaking of the CDC, its director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said despite encouraging numbers, states should keep mask-wearing mandates in place. Governors in Montana and Iowa lifted statewide mask requirements this month. North Dakota’s mask mandate expired in January. And New York Governor Andrew Cuomo recently allowed indoor dining at 25% capacity.One reason to not jump the gun are the various strains of the virus. And British scientists have reinforced in a new study the variant first detected in the U.K. is not only more contagious but more lethal, contributing to increased deaths in the country. Scientists earlier said there was a "realistic possibility" that was because of the new variant but now they say it’s "likely.” Japan formally approved its first vaccine yesterday, the one from Pfizer, and said nationwide inoculations would start within days. That puts it months behind the U.S. and many other countries but still, a process that usually takes a year happened in two months. Medical workers are first in line.Grumble if you like about slow vaccine rollouts, but UNICEF reminds us there are 130 countries that have yet to administer a single dose. That represents around 2.5 billion people, mostly in low- and middle-income countries. The result is they’re being forced in desperation to buy vaccines with lower levels of effectiveness against the original and new strains of the virus. In the United States cases were down 37%, deaths are down 16%, and hospitalizations down 28% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending down since January 25th. There are now 9,540,008 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: Scurry, TX. Aleutians East Borough, AK. San Saba, TX. Bent, CO. Lexington, VA. Van Buren, TX. Scott, TN. Marion, TN. Macon, TN. And Jackson, TN. The five states with the highest risk levels and most daily new cases per capita over 7 days are South Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Oklahoma. There’ve been a total 485,332 deaths in the US reported as COVID-related, with a current national fatality rate of 1.76%.The states with the most new deaths reported as COVID-related: California 200. Texas 129. New York 122. Florida 96. South Carolina 87. Massachusetts 60. North Carolina 38. Illinois 34. Tennessee 31. And Arizona and Oklahoma 30. The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that’s had at least one dose are Alaska at 16.7%, West Virginia at 13.5%, and New Mexico at 13.2%. The bottom 3 are Rhode Island at 9%, Idaho at 9.2%, and Tennessee and Georgia at 9.3%.Globally, cases were down 28%, and deaths down 16% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending down since January 11. Globally, there are 25,353,918 active cases.The five countries with the most new cases: the United States 64,297. Brazil 23,258. France 16,546. Russia 14,185. And India 11,434. There have now been 2,399,330 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.