Coronavirus news, updates, hotspots and information for 3-18-2021

This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for March 18th, 2021.   CNN reports new infections are again on the rise by more than 10% this week in 14 states across the U.S. That’s mostly happening in the upper Midwest, the New York area and the Mid-Atlantic. This is beginning to reverse downward trends that were happening since mid-January. According to the New York Times, in the last week, U.S. cases have averaged around 55,000 a day.   Two strains first detected in California are now officially "variants of concern," according to the CDC. The variants may be about 20% more transmissible, and some treatments may be less effective against them. However, the CDC did not say that vaccines would stop working against them. The next classification after “variant of concern” is “variant of high consequence.”   The EU's executive body proposed yesterday issuing certificates that would let EU residents travel freely across the 27-nation bloc by summer if they’ve been vaccinated, tested negative, or recovered from COVID-19. The plan to get travel going again will be discussed during a summit of EU leaders next week.   In the U.S., it’s schools they want to get going again. The government plans to invest $10 billion in Covid-19 screening for schools. That’s the latest step to increase testing and encourage schools to reopen for in-person learning.   Do you tend to walk really fast? Or are you a slow walker? British researchers say if you plod or shuffle along, you’re at higher risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19. The study found that among those whose weight was normal, slow walkers were more than twice as likely to develop severe COVID-19 and 3.75 times more likely to die of it than those who walk briskly, even obese people who walk fast.   In the United States cases were down 16%, deaths are down 35%, and hospitalizations down 25% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending down since February 26.    There are now 7,296,874 active cases in the United States. The current top 5 states by number of active cases: California, New York, Florida, Virginia, and Georgia.   The top 10 counties with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Lyon, KY. Chattahoochee, GA. Concho, TX. Pittsylvania, VA. Webster, WV. Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, AK. Pitkin, CO. Nuckolls, NE. Huron, MI. And Missaukee, MI.   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, Delaware, and Alabama.   There have been 537,992 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 272. Texas 181. New Jersey 79. Georgia 72. New York 65. Florida 58. South Carolina 52. Virginia 50. Massachusetts 44. And Pennsylvania 36.   The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that’s had at least one dose, New Mexico at 29.6%, Alaska at 28.2%, and South Dakota at 27.7%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Georgia at 16.1%, Alabama at 17.8%, and Tennessee at 18.5%.   Globally, cases were up 15% and deaths down 5% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending up since March 15.     There are now 20,913,921 active cases around the world.   The five countries with the most new cases: Brazil 90,830. The United States 62,794. France 38,501. India 35,838. And Poland 25,052.   There have now been 2,679,063 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.