Coronavirus news, updates, hotspots and information for 2-24-2021

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 24th, 2021.
AstraZeneca has told the European Union it expects to deliver less than half the vaccines it was contracted to supply in the second quarter. That puts the EU's target of vaccinating 70% of adults by summer in apparent jeopardy. The total supply could be about 130 million doses by the end of June, when the EU was supposed to have 300 million.
Researchers say a coronavirus variant that emerged in mid-2020 and became the dominant strain in California not only spreads more readily, it evades antibodies generated by vaccines or prior infection. And it’s associated with severe illness and death. Dr. Charles Chiu, who led the team at UCSF said, “The devil is already here.” He worries about a “nightmare scenario” in which the California and U.K. mutations merge.
Thoughts are trying to turn to travel. Britain plans to push G7 nations to agree on an internationally recognized system of vaccine passports. That doesn’t exist in England yet either, but they have set up a review into “COVID status certification” to explore ways people can prove they’re virus-free.
Even as Canada is focused on keeping international travelers out to protect it from the virus, a new study shows its own citizens fully intend on breaking pandemic rules during spring break. 63% are considering participating in activities like indoor gatherings, going on vacations, skiing at resorts outside their communities, and flying outside of Canada.
Many Americans qualify to get the vaccine right now, but the reason is making many reluctant to do so. Comorbidities that qualify people for immediate vaccination includes obesity. Data shows COVID-19 outcomes are significantly worse for patients with obesity. And health leaders worry some people aren’t getting the vaccine out of fear of embarrassment or feelings they don’t deserve to be among the first in line.
In the United States cases were down 40%, deaths are down 28%, and hospitalizations down 31% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases just ticked up for the first time since January 25th.
There are now 9,170,205 active cases in the United States. The current top 5 states by number of active cases: California, New York, Florida, Arizona, and Virginia.
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. Chattahoochee, GA. Lexington, VA. Bent, CO. Charlottesville, VA. Linn, KS. Sherman, TX. Clay, KS. And Pennington, MN.
The five states with the highest risk levels and most daily new cases per capita over 7 days are South Carolina, New York, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and North Carolina.
There have been 502,594 deaths in the US reported as Covid-related, with a current national fatality rate of 1.78%.
The states with the most new deaths reported as COVID-related: California 315. Texas 258. Virginia 172. Florida 157. Arizona 148. New York 125. Missouri 121. New Jersey 104. Ohio 100. And Pennsylvania 93.
The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that’s had at least one dose, Alaska at 21%, New Mexico at 19.1%, and South Dakota at 17.9%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Utah at 11.1%, Tennessee at 11.2%, and Texas at 11.3%.
Globally, cases were down 19%, and deaths down 25% over 14 days.
There are now 21,918,222 active cases around the world.
The five countries with the most new cases: the United States 71,054. Brazil 63,090. France 20,064. India 13,463. And Italy 13,314.
There have now been 2,484,988 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide.
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