Coronavirus news, updates, hotspots and information for 5-11-2021

This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for May 11th, 2021.

The FDA expanded use of Pfizer's vaccine yesterday to kids as young as 12. The hope is that this will get adolescents protected before heading back to school in the fall. Canada was the first to expand use to 12 and up. Interestingly, researchers found kids developed higher levels of antibodies than young adults.

The India variant continues to work its way around the world. Argentina's Health Ministry confirmed its first cases of both that variant and the South Africa variant. They were found in three people returning from Europe. An expert warns spread of the Indian variant in the UK is “not looking good at all,” especially in London and the North West. And health authorities in Thailand confirmed their first cases of the Indian variant in a woman and her 4-year-old son who came in from Pakistan.

We’ve reported before that Seychelles has vaccinated more of its population than any other country. But now active cases have more than doubled in the week ending May 7. 2,486 people, and 37% of them are fully vaccinated. Cases are also surging in the Maldives.

Dr. Anthony Fauci agrees that the actual number of people killed by COVID-19 is probably much higher than the official numbers say. In fact, he said he has no doubt of it. A recent study counted nearly double what was recorded by federal health officials.

Hugs are coming back. In less than a week, people in England will be able to give friends and family a hug for the first time since restrictions were put in place in March of 2020. It’s part of the next round of lockdown easing. It is stressed though that people exercise common sense. 

In the United States cases were down 29%, deaths are down 8%, and hospitalizations are down 15% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending down since April 14.  

There are now 6,411,702 active cases in the United States. The current top 5 states by number of active cases: California, Virginia, New York, Maryland, and Kentucky. 

The top 10 counties with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Moore, TX. Chattahoochee, GA. Calhoun, WV. Gilmer, WV. Conejos, CO. Baraga, MI. Charlton, GA. Luce, MI. Adams, MS. And Quay NM. 

The five states with the highest risk levels and most daily new cases per capita over 7 days are Rhode Island, Michigan, Colorado, Maine, and Minnesota.

Oddly, as of this writing, Johns Hopkins, our source for cumulative COVID deaths, changed its website and no longer reports a cumulative COVID death number for the United States. It has also lowered the number of cumulative global fatalities by one third. We will be looking for a new source for that information.  

With a current national fatality rate of 1.79%.

The states with the most new deaths reported as COVID-related: Florida 54. New York 43. Michigan 34. California and Tennessee 19. Connecticut 17. Massachusetts and Washington 16. Illinois 13. And Colorado 12.

The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that’s had at least one dose, Vermont at 61.3%, Massachusetts at 60.1%, and Hawaii at 58.8%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Mississippi at 32%, Louisiana at 33.4%, and Alabama at 33.7%. The percentage of the U.S. that’s been fully vaccinated is 34.4%

Globally, cases were down 12% and deaths down 5% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending down since April 23. 

There are 19,019,250 active cases around the world.

The five countries with the most new cases: India 329,517. The United States 30,152. Brazil 29,240. Iran 18,408. And Argentina 17,381.    For the latest updates, subscribe for free to Coronavirus 411 on your podcast app or ask your smart speaker... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.