Coronavirus news, updates, hotspots and information for 4-01-2021

This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for April 1st, 2021.   A batch of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine failed quality standards and is unusable. The company didn’t say how many doses were lost or how this might impact future deliveries. Turns out one of the factories that makes one of the ingredients didn’t meet standards and had not yet been approved by the FDA to make part of the vaccine.   While rumors float around the Internet that there were no more deaths in the U.S. in 2020 than usual, the government reports the pandemic pushed total U.S. deaths past 3.3 million, the nation’s highest annual death toll ever. The CDC says the coronavirus alone caused about 375,000 deaths and was the third leading cause of death last year.   France’s President called the variants of the coronavirus "an epidemic within the epidemic" and extended a lockdown to the entire country and closed schools through all of April. Gatherings inside and outside are banned, and no one can travel more than 6.2 miles from their homes. Hospitalizations are on track to surpass even the first deadly wave of last spring.   Pfizer says its vaccine is safe and strongly protective in kids as young as 12. Their vaccine is authorized for ages 16 and older, but vaccinating all ages is seen as critical to helping schools return to normal. Researchers reported levels of antibodies even somewhat higher than that seen in young adults.   Does the vaccine work? Well if it does, we’d see it first in the senior population prioritized for the vaccine. And the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living said yesterday nursing homes in the U.S. have seen a 96% decline in new cases since December 20. And COVID-related deaths declined 91%.   In the United States cases were up 20%, deaths are down 23%, and hospitalizations down 2% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending up since March 23.    There are now 6,927,626 active cases in the United States. The current top 5 states by number of active cases: California, New York, Virginia, Florida, and Maryland.   The top 10 counties with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Dimmit, TX. Kingsbury, SD. St. Clair, MI. Huron, MI. Sanilac, MI. Lewis, MO. Otsego, MI. Pitkin, CO. Macomb, MI. And Lapeer, MI.   The five states with the highest risk levels and most daily new cases per capita over 7 days are Rhode Island, New York, Michigan, New Jersey, and Connecticut.   There have been 552,038 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 149. Oklahoma 103. New York 87. Florida 84. New Jersey 75. Georgia 68. Pennsylvania 44. Illinois and Massachusetts 37. And West Virginia 36.   The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that’s had at least one dose, New Mexico at 37.5%, Connecticut at 34.4%, and South Dakota at 34.3%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Alabama at 22.7%, Georgia at 23.1%, and Mississippi at 24.3%.   Globally, cases were up 32% and deaths up 16% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending up since March 5.     There are now 22,228,160 active cases around the world.   The five countries with the most new cases: Brazil 89,200. India 72,182. The United States 68,756. France 41,907. And Turkey 39,302.   There have now been 2,814,038 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.