This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for March 5th, 2021.

On this podcast, we regularly give the states who have done the most and least vaccinating. But what about which countries are getting most of their populations vaccinated? When you look at the percentage of citizens who are fully vaccinated, meaning two doses, the top three are Serbia at 7.4%, Malta at 6.6%, and Iceland at 3.8%. The bottom three are Austria at 0%, Bulgaria at .6%, and Latvia at .9%.

Sixteen cases of a new variant first detected February 15th have been identified by Public Health England. It’s understood to have originated in the UK. There are now a total of four Variants Under Investigation and four Variants of Concern being tracked in the UK.

Not right away, but Alabama is following the lead of Texas and Mississippi with regard to mask mandates. The state plans to lift its ban April 9. But the Governor also extended Alabama’s health emergency proclamation for Covid-19 by 60 days and urged residents to keep wearing masks even if they aren’t mandated.

A government study shows too many people over 80 in England aren’t behaving. Two in five who’ve had a vaccine shot have since broken lockdown rules by meeting up with someone indoors when not permitted. They also did that within three weeks of getting a first dose, which is how long it takes for protection to build after a shot.

For those of you worried about our animal friends, eight great apes at the San Diego Zoo got two doses of an experimental vaccine developed just for animals. They were given the shots while being distracted with treats and so far, no negative side effects, beyond maybe trust issues.

In the United States cases were down 17%, deaths are down 8%, and hospitalizations down 29% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending flat since February 21.

There are now 8,899,008 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: Lyon, KY. Caldwell, KY. Crowley, CO. Aleutians West Census Area, AK. Petersburg Borough, AK. Cimarron, OK. Sherman, TX. Concho, TX. Johnson, WY. 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 520,226 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: California 420. Texas 289. New York and Georgia 125. Florida 117. Arizona 96. Alabama 65. Pennsylvania 52. Illinois 49. And Massachusetts 43.

The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that’s had at least one dose, Alaska at 23.3%, New Mexico at 22.5%, and South Dakota at 21.5%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Georgia at 12.3%, Utah at 13.2%, and Alabama at 13.4%.

Globally, cases were up 1% and deaths down 19% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending flat since February 26.

There are now 21,750,682 active cases around the world.

The five countries with the most new cases: Brazil 74,285. the United States 68,321. France 25,279. Italy 22,865. And India 16,824.

There have now been 2,568,083 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide.

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