Coronavirus news, updates, hotspots and information for 5-18-2021

This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for May 18th, 2021.

If you’re in India, you have to wonder what else could happen. A powerful cyclone in the Arabian Sea was expected to make landfall on India’s west coast last night. Authorities tried to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people, but what the threat also did was suspend desperately needed vaccinations in one state. Flooding and crowded evacuation shelters could also make matters worse.

Conditions in India have definitely spread to neighboring Nepal. Cases have been exploding there over the last few weeks and the director-general of the World Health Organization is worried about what’s unfolding there. He said Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Egypt are also dealing with spikes in cases and hospitalizations.

The Indian variant is spreading in England to such an extent, the government's review of social distancing rules there may be delayed. The plan was to lift all restrictions on June 21st but the Prime Minister now says that cannot be definitive.

While New York is prepared to lift mask mandates according to CDC guidance, California is saying not so fast. They won’t do it until June 15 so the public and businesses have time to prepare, and so health officials can make sure cases stay low.

If you’re one of the ones who laughed at Ohio’s million-dollar lottery to encourage citizens to get vaccinated, you may have laughed a little early. More than 25,400 shots were administered Friday, two days after the program was announced. That made it the highest vaccination day in three weeks. Vaccinations for those age 30 to 74 jumped 6% after weeks of steady decline.

In the United States cases were down 33%, deaths are down 13%, and hospitalizations are down 18% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending down since April 14.  

There are now 5,944,597 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: Armstrong, TX. Chattahoochee, GA. Conejos, CO. Adams, MS. Calhoun, WV. Ketchikan Gateway Borough, AK. Luce, MI. Alamosa, CO. Baraga, MI. And Gilmer, WV. 

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

There have been 586,350 deaths in U.S. recorded as Covid-related, with a current national fatality rate of 1.79%.

The states with the most new deaths reported as COVID-related: Florida 54. New York 35. North Carolina 29. Texas 28. Michigan 22. Connecticut 21. Pennsylvania 20. Massachusetts 19. California 18. And New Jersey 14. 

The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that’s had at least one dose, Vermont at 64.6%, Massachusetts at 62.3%, and Hawaii at 60.9%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Mississippi at 32.5%, Louisiana at 34%, and Alabama at 34.7%. The percentage of the U.S. that’s been fully vaccinated is 37%.

Globally, cases were down 23% and deaths down 11% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending down since April 23. 

There are now under 18 million active cases around the world, at 17,876,754.

The five countries with the most new cases: India 263,045. Brazil 33,631. Argentina 28,680. The United States 25,030. And Iran 14,319. 

There have now been 3,385,075 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide. 

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