This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for February 26th, 2021.

Another mutated version of the coronavirus has popped up in New York City. It first appeared in the New York area in late November and has since shown up in neighboring states. City health officials and the Mayor are saying the new research is preliminary and not much is known about the variant.

Where did the flu go? February is usually the peak of flu season but this year it has virtually disappeared. Of course, experts say measures to fend off the coronavirus are the reason but still, there was a lot of talk and fear about a “twindemic” of flu and COVID-19, which now does not appear likely to happen.

There was a time citizens in other countries were asking, “Why can’t we be more like Germany?” Now, not so much. With demand sky high, Germany actually has more than 1 million vaccine doses sitting unused in storage. The country has administered just 15% of the AstraZeneca vaccine it’s received. Blame is being placed on loss of trust in political leaders and incorrect press reports.

If two doses of vaccine are good, maybe three are even better. Pfizer is testing what results a third dose might bring. Two doses have already shown 95% effectiveness. The CEO says they believe the third dose will raise the antibody response 10 to 20-fold.

When things are reported over and over, the public starts accepting it as truth, only to learn later maybe it wasn’t. A new study has found four main risk factors that account for two-thirds of hospitalizations - and neither age nor race are among them. The four factors are obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart failure.

In the United States cases were down 34%, deaths are down 16%, and hospitalizations down 30% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending up since February 21.

There are now 9,096,024 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: La Salle, TX. Cimarron, OK. Calhoun, TX. Hartley, TX. Bent, CO. Marengo, AL. Aleutians West Census Area, AK. Linn, KS. Sherman, TX. And Lexington, VA.

The five states with the highest risk levels and most daily new cases per capita over 7 days are South Carolina, New York, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and North Carolina.

There have been 508,114 deaths in the US reported as Covid-related, with a current national fatality rate of 1.79%.

The states with the most new deaths reported as COVID-related: California 384. Texas 313. Virginia 156. Georgia 135. Florida 131. Arizona 121. New York 112. Alabama 87. Ohio 82. Pennsylvania 77.

The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that’s had at least one dose, Alaska at 21.3%, New Mexico at 19.4%, and South Dakota at 18.4%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Utah at 11.4%, and Tennessee and Georgia at 11.5%.

Globally, cases were down 15%, and deaths down 23% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending up since February 21.

There are now 21,896,055 active cases around the world.

The five countries with the most new cases: the United States 77,377. Brazil 67,878. France 25,403. Italy 19,886. India 16,568.

There have now been 2,506,344 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide.

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