Coronavirus news, updates, hotspots and information for 3-8-2021

This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for March 8th, 2021. 

Dr. Anthony Fauci said it’s not widespread yet but a variant that’s shown resistance to antibody treatments and vaccines is spreading efficiently through New York City and beyond. The good news is it’s not as resistant as the quick-spreading variant from South Africa. Fauci says it remains important to vaccinate as “quickly as possible.” 

Oregon now has become the first state in the U.S. where a specific, new variant has been discovered. They already have 11 cases of the UK variant and a case of the Brazilian variant. But this one is new, a U.K. variant with an additional mutation. Because this case was not imported from another country, scientists believe cases could start appearing spontaneously in the U.S.

Florida’s usually excited about Spring Break, this time it’s just scared. Miami Beach’s Mayor says they’re very concerned because the county still averages more than 1,000 new cases a day and variants keep cropping up. Students from more than 200 schools are expected to head to the city this season.

First-stage testing of the experimental COVID-19 pill called Molnupiravir, by Merck, showed promising effectiveness. In fact, researchers said, "It may be the holy grail because it literally stopped the virus in its tracks." It would be an at-home, five-day treatment, similar to Tamiflu, and could be on the market in four to five months.

It often helps vaccination efforts when admired public figures get behind it. LeBron James won’t be one of them. Asked if he’d get the vaccine once it’s made available, James said "That's a conversation my family and I will have. And probably keep to a private thing." 

In the United States cases were down 11%, deaths are down 5%, and hospitalizations down 29% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending down since February 26.  

There are now 8,821,756 active cases in the United States. The current top 5 states by number of active cases: California, New York, Florida, Georgia, and Maryland. 

The top 10 counties with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Dallam, TX. Lyon, KY. Hartley, TX. Crowley, CO. Petersburg Borough, AK. Cimarron, OK. Aleutians West Census Area, AK. Sherman, TX. La Salle, TX. And Coke, TX. 

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

There have been 524,987 deaths in the US reported as Covid-related, with a current national fatality rate of 1.82%.

The states with the most new deaths reported as COVID-related: California 99. New York 81. Virginia 77. Texas 75. Florida 63. Massachusetts 43. South Carolina 35. Louisiana 32. Pennsylvania 31. And Arkansas 22. 

The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that’s had at least one dose, Alaska at 24.3%, New Mexico at 24.2%, and South Dakota at 23.3%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Georgia at 13.1%, Alabama at 14.4%, and Tennessee at 15%.

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

There are now 21,886,078 active cases around the world.

The five countries with the most new cases: Brazil 80,024. the United States 41,967. France 21,825. Italy 20,765. And India 18,691.    There have now been 2,592,768 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide. 

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