Coronavirus, COVID-19, coronavirus variants, and vaccine updates for 7-20-2021

This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for July 20th, 2021.

A federal judge has ruled Indiana University can require its roughly 90,000 students and 40,000 employees to get vaccinated. The judge rejected a request to block the requirement from eight students who are suing that the policy violated their constitutional rights by forcing them to receive unwanted medical treatment.

With restrictions ending, cases up 41%, the UK Health Secretary testing positive for COVID, and the US issuing a “do not travel” advisory to the UK, the British government says it won’t be inoculating most children and teens until more safety data is available. An advisory panel said the benefits of universal vaccination do not outweigh the risks for most young people. This runs counter to the policy of several other European countries, which are vaccinating adolescents as young as 12.

The American Academy of Pediatrics issued recommendations for the upcoming school year that says everyone 2 and older should wear masks and it doesn’t matter if they’re vaccinated or not. But the group does "strongly recommend" in-person learning.

Alabama typically leads our list of least vaccinated states, and its Department of Public Health reported 718 new cases Monday after 1,625 new cases over the weekend. The 7-day moving average is now 6.74 times higher over just two weeks’ time. Hospitalizations are also rising sharply, and COVID deaths have roughly doubled in two weeks,

Canadian officials say as long as the situation there stays favorable, travel restrictions at the U.S. border will be loosened August 9. That means fully vaccinated American citizens and permanent residents residing in the U.S. can get into Canada with no quarantine even for non-essential purposes.

In the United States cases were up 140%, deaths are up 33%, and hospitalizations are up 34% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending up since July 5. 

There are now 4,987,415 active cases in the United States.

The five states with the most new cases: California 4,350. Texas 1,996. Louisiana 1,329. Arizona 1,034. And Missouri 1,020.

The top 10 counties with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Dimmit, TX. Karnes, TX. Taney, MO. Cole, MO. Marion, AR. Baxter, AR. Christian, MO. Dallas, MO. Wright, MO. And Miller, MO.

There have been 609,233 deaths in U.S. recorded as Covid-related.

The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that’s been fully vaccinated: Vermont at 66.9%, Massachusetts at 63.1%, and Maine unchanged at 62.8%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Alabama at 33.7%, Mississippi unchanged at 33.8%, and Arkansas at 35.4%. The percentage of the U.S. that’s been fully vaccinated is 48.6%.

The 5 countries with the largest recent 24-hour increase in the number of fully vaccinated people: Saudi Arabia up 10%. Trinidad and Tobago 5%. Jordan and Zambia 3%. And Macao 2%.

Globally, cases were up 34% and deaths up 7% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending up since June 21.

There are once again over 13 million active cases around the world, at 13,031,275.

The five countries with the most new cases: The U.K. 39,950. Indonesia 34,257. India 29,424. Iran 25,441. And Russia 24,633.

There have now been 4,095,437 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide.

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