This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for January 4th, 2021.

Coronavirus lets no good deed go unpunished. 44 staff members so far tested positive at Kaiser Permanente’s San Jose Medical Center. The hospital believes a fan on an "air-powered costume" may have spread droplets after a staffer briefly wore it in the ER Christmas Day. They were trying to lift the spirits of those having to work on Christmas.

The numbers are starting to come in and so far, the countries that are vaccinating fastest are Israel and the U.K. France and the Netherlands are among the slowest. In the U.S., the fastest vaccinators are North and South Dakota, while the five slowest are Kansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, and Arizona.  

They’re doing a good job of vaccinating in the U.K., but England is reeling with infections. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned more onerous lockdown restrictions are likely. School closures, curfews, and a total ban on household mixing could be on the agenda. Meanwhile Japan is considering declaring a state of emergency for the Greater Tokyo area.

Canada is quite serious about its quarantine rules for travelers. Health Canada warned “violating any instructions is an offence under the Quarantine Act.” Failing to quarantine 14 days could result in “up to six months in prison and/or $750,000 in fines.”

Legendary cable news interviewer Larry King is among those hospitalized with Covid-19 and he’s been there more than a week. King is 87 and is at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. His family members have not been allowed to visit.

The top 10 counties with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Pershing, NV. Bent, CO. Montour, PA. Kusilvak Census Area, AK. Bethel Census Area, AK. Rooks, KS. Lassen, CA. Pecos, TX. Labette, KS. And Chautauqua, KS.

There are now over 8 million active cases in the United States, at 8,316,492. The current Top 10 states by number of active cases: California, Florida, New York, Arizona, Georgia surpasses Virginia, then Texas, Missouri, Maryland, and Colorado.  

The five states with the highest risk levels and most daily new cases per capita over 7 days are Arizona, Kansas, New Jersey, Utah, and Wisconsin.  

The infection reproduction rate is currently highest in Maine, Iowa, New York, Hawaii, and Maryland. The states with the lowest reproduction rate are Alaska, North Dakota, Wyoming, Wisconsin, and Oklahoma.

There’ve been a total 351,453 deaths in the US reported as COVID-related, with a current national fatality rate of 1.73%.

The states with the most new deaths reported as COVID-related: New York 125. Illinois 114. Massachusetts 108. California 102. Florida 97. South Carolina 84. Indiana 65. Pennsylvania 61. Ohio 59. And Texas 57.

Globally, there are now over 23 million active cases, at 23,198,998.

There were 615,047 new cases around the world in the last 24 hours against a high of 748,974 reported on December 11.

The five countries with the most new cases: the United States 194,337. The U.K. 54,990. Russia 24,150. Brazil 17,341. And India 16,660.

There have now been 1,842,590 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide. Down 3% over 14 days.  

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