This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for April 29th, 2021.

An EU agency says Russia is spreading fake news that the West and EU are trying to undermine their Sputnik V vaccine and trying to sow distrust in the European Medicines Agency. That agency regulates which vaccines can be put on the EU market. The European Commission so far doesn't intend to order Sputnik V, but Germany may talk to Russia about an individual order and Hungary’s already using it. 

We’ve heard about the situation in India, but next door, in Pakistan, that country recorded more than 200 COVID-19 deaths in a day for the first time since the start of the pandemic. They are now considering stricter lockdowns because Pakistan has very limited health resources, with ventilators and oxygen in short supply.

Research is now underway at Oxford to come up with blood tests that will determine not only whether a vaccine will work but for how long. Volunteers who survived COVID are being deliberately exposed to gauge levels of protection against reinfection. They’re trying to learn how to tell if a new vaccine would provide protection without having to test it on tens of thousands of people.

A new study shows why you should not skip your second vaccine dose. In a "real-world" study, the effectiveness of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in keeping people out of the hospital was 94% for those fully vaccinated, but only 64% for those with one dose. As we reported here before, 8% of Americans are not returning for their second shot.

And from the utter silliness department, a conspiracy has been making the rounds that singer Mariah Carey faked getting her vaccine injection in a video. In the video, the needle cannot be seen coming out of her arm. The reason is the person giving the shot used a retractable needle. These are sometimes used to help protect health care workers by allowing an extra push on the plunger to retract the needle up into the syringe.

In the United States cases were down 26%, deaths are down 7%, and hospitalizations are down 2% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending down since April 14.  

There are now 6,810,611 active cases in the United States. The current top 5 states by number of active cases: California, Virginia, New York, Maryland, and Florida. 

The top 10 counties with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Chattahoochee, GA. Pecos, TX. Huron, MI. Hemphill, TX. Muskegon, MI. Grant, OR. Coos, NH. Ferry, WA. Fairbanks North Star Borough, AK. And Coosa, AL. 

The five states with the highest risk levels and most daily new cases per capita over 7 days are Rhode Island, Michigan, Colorado, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania.

There have been 574,326 deaths in the US reported as Covid-related, with a current national fatality rate of 1.79%.

The states with the most new deaths reported as COVID-related: Texas 75. Florida 74. Oklahoma 72. Georgia 71. Pennsylvania 65. California 62. New Jersey 49. Illinois, Michigan, and South Carolina 37. 

The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that’s had at least one dose, New Hampshire at 59.7%, Massachusetts at 54.1%, and Connecticut at 53.5%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Mississippi at 30.6%, Alabama at 31.8%, and Louisiana at 32%.

Globally, cases were up 5% and deaths up 4% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending down since April 23. 

There are 19,316,514 active cases around the world.

The five countries with the most new cases: India 379,459. Brazil 77,266. The United States 56,604. Turkey 40,444. And France 31,539. 

There have now been 3,146,284 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide. 

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