Coronavirus news, updates, hotspots and information for 4-21-2021

This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for April 21st, 2021.

In India’s capital, patients struggle to breathe for up to 10 hours as ambulances try to find an open bed at one of the six hospitals there. For others, there’s no available ambulance at all. Nearly all ventilators are in use as India recorded over 250,000 new infections and over 1,700 deaths in 24 hours. The U.K. announced a travel ban on most visitors from India and Canada is considering the same.

The European Union says yes, it found a “possible link” between Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine and blood clots, but the benefits outweigh the risks. They recommended a warning be added to the label, which the drug company said it will do.

The U.S. administration has issued guidelines for federal agencies to test workers for COVID-19, confirming these offices can mandate employee testing. The CDC said, federal employees who have a testing requirement to enter their workplace and refuse can face “consequences.” It did not specify what those consequences might be. It did say the Americans with Disabilities Act allows for it and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has deemed it acceptable.

There’s a kind of tourism to the United States that’s doing quite well, vaccine tourism by wealthy people from Latin America. Politicians, TV personalities, business executives and a soccer team charter planes, book commercial flights, buy bus tickets and rent cars to get the vaccine in U.S. due to lack of supply at home. Some say they don’t feel guilty because it’s starting to appear Americans don’t seem to want the vaccines.

Today’s celebrity infection is rock star Ted Nugent, notable for dismissing COVID-19 just four months ago as a “scamming pandemic” and committing to never taking the vaccine. Now the 72-year-old reported to fans he thought he was dying and can hardly crawl out of bed.

In the United States cases were up 4%, deaths are down 5%, and hospitalizations were up 10% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending down since April 14. 

There are now 6,848,479 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. Grant, OR. Chattahoochee, GA. Karnes, TX. St. Clair, MI. Alcona, MI. Sanilac, MI. Crosby, TX. Mason, MI. And Macomb, MI.

The five states with the highest risk levels and most daily new cases per capita over 7 days are Rhode Island, Michigan, New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania.

There have been 568,449 deaths in the US reported as Covid-related, with a current national fatality rate of 1.8%.

The states with the most new deaths reported as COVID-related: Michigan 90. California 84. New York 82. Pennsylvania 74. Florida 64. Texas 58. New Jersey 45. Arizona 40. Virginia 30. And North Carolina 19.

The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that’s had at least one dose, New Hampshire at 58.4%, Maine at 49.5%, and Connecticut at 49.4%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Mississippi at 29.4%, Alabama at 30.3%, and Louisiana at 31%.

Globally, cases were up 19% and deaths up 11% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending down since April 16.

There are now 18,588,852 active cases around the world.

The five countries with the most new cases: India 294,290. Brazil 73,172. Turkey 61,028. The United States 60,317. And France 43,098.

There have now been 3,040,790 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...
 

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.