This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for December 3rd, 2020.

They’re first. British officials authorized a vaccine for emergency use yesterday. The vaccine is from Pfizer and the U.K. regulatory agency seems to agree it’s proven in testing to be 95% effective overall and offers significant protection for older people. Britain expects to start getting the first shipment of 800,000 doses “within days.”

The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients nationwide stood on the brink of 100,000 as of yesterday. Some experts said the total, compiled by the COVID Tracking Project, could soon double. For instance, California’s Governor said ICU beds there could be full by mid-December.

A study out of Harvard, Rutgers, and Northwestern shows social distancing and other efforts to try to prevent the virus from spreading "decreased dramatically" in the U.S. over the summer and into the fall. And while about 77% said they were good about wearing masks in November, adherence to social distancing, avoiding public places, frequent hand washing, and disinfecting surfaces all reached all-time lows in October.

In Pasadena, California, health authorities have taken a stand against Los Angeles County’s ban on outdoor dining. Meanwhile in New York City, a bar owner defying the ban there on indoor service was arrested. It was a sting operation involving plainclothes officers.

With a vaccine right around the corner, many of you might be asking, should I get it if I already survived Covid? The answer is…still…we don’t know. But the director of the infectious diseases division at Johns Hopkins says there’s likely little risk in getting the shot, so that’s the recommendation.

The top 10 counties with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Crowley, CO. Crawford, WI. Dewey, SD. Presidio, TX. Prairie, MT. Brewster, TX. Crockett, TX. Ellis, OK. Powell, MT. and Bent, CO.

There are now 5,571,729 active cases in the United States. The current Top 10 states by number of active cases: California, Illinois, Florida, Arizona, Texas, Missouri, Michigan, New York, Virginia, and Maryland.

The five states with the most daily new cases per capita over 7 days are Montana, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Nebraska.

The reproduction rate is currently highest in Oregon, New Hampshire, Washington, New York, and Mississippi. The states with the lowest reproduction rate are North Dakota, Illinois, Iowa, Montana, and South Dakota.

There’ve been a total 273,316 deaths in the US reported as COVID-related, with a current national fatality rate of 1.99%.

The states with the most new deaths reported as COVID-related: Illinois 266. Texas 212. Pennsylvania 187. Ohio 123. California 120. Kansas 119. Indiana 109. Florida 95. Colorado 84. And Michigan 83.

Globally, there are now 18,402,773 active cases.

There are 599,017 new cases around the world in the last 24 hours against a high of 656,099 on November 12.

The five countries with the most new cases: the United States crosses the 200,000 mark at 203,427. Brazil 48,124. India 33,761. Turkey 31,923. And Russia 25,345.

There have now been 1,492,029 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide. Up 14% over 14 days.

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