This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for May 27th, 2021.

France is imposing a mandatory quarantine on visitors from Britain to slow the spread of the Indian variant. Germany has even stricter limits on people coming in from the U.K. Travel companies can only transport German citizens and residents from Britain.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said she was relying on a study in a top infectious disease journal when she said outdoor transmission accounted for less than 10% of cases. Now the New York Times reports a co-author of that study says that was misleading, because the actual number is far less, "probably substantially less than 1%."

There’s seemingly a news story every time a breakthrough infection occurs in someone who’s been fully vaccinated. It seems like breakthroughs are happening a lot. But a new CDC report says that’s incredibly rare. How rare? It’s estimated such infections may occur in 0.01% of all fully vaccinated people. And only 10% of that .01% required hospitalization.

Researchers announced an average 15% of Brazil's citizens have COVID-19 antibodies. That research was done at the beginning of the vaccine rollout when less than 1% had gotten even one dose. The presence of those antibodies suggests these people were likely infected at some point and may have at least some immunity.

Probably not a good idea to censor theories about how the pandemic started long before the facts have been established. But that’s what Facebook did. Deeming any mention of the possibility the virus leaked from a Wuhan lab as conspiratorial misinformation, Facebook removed, blocked, and banned such content. It has now reversed that policy, as Republicans and Democrats alike call for more scrutiny into the origins of Covid-19.

In the United States cases were down 37%, deaths are down 12%, and hospitalizations are down 23% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending down since April 14. 

There are now 5,702,760 active cases in the United States. The current top 5 states by number of active cases: California, Virginia, Maryland, New York, and Kentucky.

The top 10 counties with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Chattahoochee, GA. Linn, MO. Livingston, MO. Torrance, NM. Karnes, TX. Lincoln, WA. Dimmit, TX. Koochiching, MN. Ketchikan Gateway Borough, AK. And Alamosa, CO.

The five states with the highest risk levels and most daily new cases per capita over 7 days are Rhode Island, Missouri, Delaware, Colorado, and West Virginia.

There have been 591,941 deaths in U.S. recorded as Covid-related, with a current national fatality rate of 1.79%.

The states with the most new deaths reported as COVID-related: Florida 70. Texas 61. Pennsylvania 42. Georgia 36. California and New Jersey 34. Colorado 33. Illinois 28. North Carolina 27. And New York 23.

The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that’s had at least one dose, Vermont at 69.9%, Hawaii at 65.3%, and Massachusetts at 65%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Mississippi at 33.6%, Louisiana at 35.1%, and Alabama at 35.8%. The percentage of the U.S. that’s been fully vaccinated is 39.5%.

Globally, cases were down 32% and deaths down 9% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending down since April 26.

There are now 14,861,104 active cases around the world.

The five countries with the most new cases: India 211,553. Brazil 79,459. Argentina 35,399. The United States 23,500. And Colombia 23,487.   

There have now been 3,493,704 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide.

For the latest updates, subscribe for free to Coronavirus 411 on your podcast app or ask your smart speaker to play the Coronavirus 411 podcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.