Coronavirus news, updates, hotspots and information for 2-18-2021

Coronavirus 411 podcast - news, alerts, and updates on the corona virus COVID 19

This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for February 18th, 2021.
Another group is apparently reluctant to get a Covid-19 vaccine. The military. By the thousands, U.S. service members are refusing or delaying vaccination and their commanders are trying to figure out how they can change that. Some Army units are seeing as few as one-third agree to the vaccine. They have discovered one possible motivator. Navy sailors who were being deployed last week were choosing to take the shot at rates exceeding 80% to 90%.
The UN is not happy with the vaccine rollout. The Secretary General has called the distribution “wildly uneven and unfair,” pointing out that just 10 countries have administered 75% of all vaccinations. He said, “At this critical moment, vaccine equity is the biggest moral test before the global community.”
A study out of NYU shows a mutation in the spike protein of the Covid-19 causing coronavirus makes it not only more infectious than the original, it makes it up to eight times more infectious. What’s known as the "G variant" likely emerged in early 2020 and is now the most prevalent and dominant form of the virus across the U.S. and many other countries.
Some bad news out of the White House, the U.S. government will only have a few million doses of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine candidate in inventory by the end of February. The deal is for 100 million doses by the end of June. This is the vaccine that does not require a booster shot, but that’s estimated to be 66% effective at preventing moderate to severe COVID-19. That’s a good bit lower than competitors from Pfizer and Moderna.
If you’re looking for a sunny outlook or rose-colored glasses, Dr. Anthony Fauci is not your guy. He said yesterday he sees the numbers dropping rapidly but there’s a good chance the variants will turn out to be “devastating.” He wants the masks and distancing to stay, and as for vaccines, Fauci says up to 80% of country will have to be vaccinated before we can start talking about herd immunity.
In the United States cases were down 43%, deaths are down 29%, and hospitalizations down 29% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending down since January 25th.
There are now 9,354,485 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. Scott, TN. Bent, CO. Aleutians West Census Area, AK. Lexington, VA. Chattahoochee, GA. Van Buren, TN. Marion, TN. Stewart, GA. And Macon, TN.
The five states with the highest risk levels and most daily new cases per capita over 7 days are South Carolina, Tennessee, New York, Rhode Island, and New Jersey.
There’ve been a total 490,447 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 409. Pennsylvania 190. Florida 158. New Jersey 135. New York 122. North Carolina 108. Kansas 104. Georgia 99. Alabama 89. And Arizona 82.
The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that’s had at least one dose, Alaska at 17.7%, New Mexico at 14.3%, and West Virginia at 14%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Rhode Island at 9.5%, and Georgia and Utah at 9.8%.
Globally, cases were down 28%, and deaths down 20% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending down since January 11.
Globally, there are 22,664,869 active cases.
The five countries with the most new cases: the United States 71,640. Brazil 57,295. France 25,108. Russia 12,828. And the U.K. 12,718.
There have now been 2,429,669 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide.
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