Coronavirus news, updates, hotspots and information for 3-4-2021

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

A Census Bureau report says most small businesses in the U.S. aren’t requiring employees get tested or get a vaccine. 70% said “no" about testing, 78.4% said “no” about vaccinations. Only two sectors, health care and accommodations & food service had higher rates than the national average.

The CDC is expected to release guidance this week on what it’s safe for people who’ve been fully vaccinated to do. In short, don’t look for normalcy. Even the vaccinated are advised to stay masked and stay distant. What’s new is small gatherings in the home of fully vaccinated people should be okay.

Interpol says police in China and South Africa seized thousands of fake doses of vaccine, and that probably represents the “tip of the iceberg.” Authorities worldwide were warned to prepare for organized crime networks to deploy vaccine scams. Interpol is also getting reports of fake vaccine distribution targeting nursing homes.

New York lifted the quarantine and testing restrictions on domestic travelers who’ve been vaccinated within 90 days of their second inoculation. Beyond 90 days, travelers will still have to quarantine and test. International travelers must continue to quarantine 10 days as do the unvaccinated. 

Despite the certainty that it would be, the verdict is in and the Super Bowl was not a super-spreader event. Hillsborough County, FL health officials said official events resulted in 57 total cases out of thousands of fans at those events.

In the United States cases were down 19%, deaths are down 9%, and hospitalizations down 29% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending flat since February 21.  

There are now 8,921,400 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: Crowley, CO. Caldwell, KY. Cimarron, OK. Petersburg Borough, AK. Aleutians West Census Area, AK. Concho, TX. Johnson, WY. Comanche, TX. Kane, UT. And La Salle, TX.

The five states with the highest risk levels and most daily new cases per capita over 7 days are Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, South Carolina, and Arkansas. 

There have been 518,326 deaths in the US reported as Covid-related, with a current national fatality rate of 1.81%.

The states with the most new deaths reported as COVID-related: Virginia 383. Texas 266. California 259. Georgia 145. New York 142. Florida 131. New Jersey 128. Pennsylvania 81. North Carolina 75. And Massachusetts 70. 

The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that’s had at least one dose, Alaska at 23%, New Mexico at 22.1%, and South Dakota at 21.1%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Georgia at 12.2%, Utah at 12.7%, and Alabama at 13.2%.

Globally, cases were up 1% and deaths down 18% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending flat since February 26.  

There are now 21,726,718 active cases around the world.

The five countries with the most new cases: Brazil 74,376. the United States 66,879. France 26,788. Italy 20,884. And India 17,425.    There have now been 2,558,261 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide. 

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