Coronavirus news, updates, hotspots and information for 2-22-2021

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 22nd, 2021.
The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus topped a half a million Sunday according to NBC News. And while the death toll in the U.S. is the highest in the world, the country has less than 5% of the global population. A half a million people resembles the population of Atlanta or Sacramento.
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson rolls out his roadmap for lifting restrictions in England today. All schools will reopen March 8 and two families or a group of six friends will be allowed to meet outdoors three weeks after that. He has, however, resisted calls to reopen pub beer gardens. That won’t happen until at least April.
In Germany, new infections rose again yesterday, which could easily interfere with planned easing of restrictions. Schools in 10 of Germany's 16 federal states are scheduled to reopen today. Experts blame the variants of the virus for the increased numbers.
This podcast has been reporting the Covid numbers that are made available. But the fact is, some countries have not been publishing data. Tanzania is one of them. That country’s President has declared it "coronavirus-free,” but the World Health Organization is urging them to report cases honestly and transparently, especially after the recent deaths of senior government officials.
If you wear glasses, you may not love the fact that you need them, but a new study out of India says that’s making it two to three times less likely you’ll get infected with the coronavirus. You hear a lot about masks but touching and rubbing the eyes is a significant route of infection. Researchers said we touch our own face an average 23 times an hour and our eyes three times an hour.
In the United States cases were down 44%, deaths are down 35%, and hospitalizations down 30% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending down since January 25th.
There are now 9,281,100 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 West Census Area, AK. Cimarron, OK. Lexington, VA. Chattahoochee, GA. Charlottesville, VA. Bent, CO. Linn, KS. Sherman, TX. Scott, TN. And Avoyelles, LA.
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, Rhode Island, and North Carolina.
While other news outlets are reporting the number of deaths in the US reported as Covid-related has crossed over 500,000, as of this writing, Johns Hopkins is reporting the number to be 498,879, with a current national fatality rate of 1.78%.
The states with the most new deaths reported as COVID-related: California 207. Texas 137. Virginia 134. New York 101. Florida 93. South Carolina 68. Ohio 67. Massachusetts 47. Illinois 40. And Indiana 36.
The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that’s had at least one dose, Alaska at 20.3%, New Mexico at 18.4%, and South Dakota at 17.3%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Tennessee at 11%, and Georgia and Utah at 11.1%.
Globally, cases were down 22%, and deaths down 25% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending down since January 11.
Globally, there are 22,156,934 active cases.
The five countries with the most new cases: the United States 57,198. Brazil 29,026. France 22,046. India 13,980. And Italy 13,452.
There have now been 2,465,846 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide.
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