This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for August 6th, 2021. The head of the CDC says the number of daily cases in the US has surged more than 40% from the previous week. And across the board, they’re seeing increases in cases and hospitalizations across all age groups. Moderna believes people who got two doses of its vaccine will need a third dose before winter as a booster shot. They’re also working on a single shot that would be an annual booster f...
Aug 06, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for August 5th, 2021. Yesterday we had an Axios poll that shows unvaccinated Americans mostly blame foreigners visiting the United States for the surge in the Delta variant. And apparently the White House agrees with them. The administration is taking the first steps toward requiring nearly all foreign visitors to the U.S. to be vaccinated. Travel restrictions curtailing international travel to the U.S. have long...
Aug 05, 2021•6 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for August 4th, 2021. In New York City, you’ll soon have to show proof of vaccination if you want to dine indoors at a restaurant, see a show, or go to the gym. It’s the first big city in the U.S. to put restrictions like that back in place. And they’ll be rolled out over the course of weeks. The Mayor said “What we want to nail is bluntly, showing life is much better when you’re vaccinated. You have more freedom...
Aug 04, 2021•6 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for August 3rd, 2021. It’s a month late from the US administration’s goal but 70% of U.S. adults have had at least one shot of a vaccine, according to the CDC. Some health officials say it’s a big step toward reaching so-called herd immunity, while others say herd immunity is misleading and the best we can do is reduce the impact of and learn to live with COVID -19. The seven-day average of daily cases in the U.S...
Aug 03, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for August 2nd, 2021. There are some signs vaccinations in the US are going up now that the Delta variant surge has become undeniable. 816,203 doses were administered Saturday, the 5th straight day the CDC recorded more than 700,000 shots in arms. Saturday was also the third day in a row the 7-day average of people getting their first shots topped 400,000. Which is not to say there isn’t still resistance around t...
Aug 02, 2021•6 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for July 30th, 2021. The EU has passed the U.S. in Covid-19 vaccinations. Inoculations in the 27 member countries are at a sustained pace while America’s effort has stalled. The EU has boosted its figure by 9 percentage points just in the past month. As expected, the US administration announced a number of new steps to increase vaccinations. These include requiring all federal employees and onsite contractors to ...
Jul 30, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for July 29th, 2021. After the CDC changed its guidance for even the vaccinated to go back to wearing masks indoors in certain areas, mask rules across the nation reacted in a range of ways. That includes cities, states, schools, and businesses. Nevada and Kansas City swiftly re-imposed indoor masking. But governors in Arizona, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina are resisting. Ford is reinstating masking at facilit...
Jul 29, 2021•6 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for July 28th, 2021. The CDC has again altered its mask guidance, recommending even fully vaccinated people wear masks indoors in areas with "substantial" and "high" transmission. That pretty much includes two-thirds of all US counties. A source says new unpublished data showing vaccinated people with the Delta variant can have as much virus as the unvaccinated was the main driver for the CDC's change. The White ...
Jul 28, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for July 27th, 2021. California and New York City announced they will require all government employees to get the vaccine or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing. It’s not clear what happens if employees refuse. The announcements are seen as a possible “opening of the floodgates” as more government entities and companies impose vaccine mandates. The Department of Veterans Affairs became the first major federal agency ...
Jul 27, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for July 26th, 2021. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff warned that restrictions for unvaccinated people may be necessary if infection numbers reach new heights in the coming months. That has politicians there very divided. The unvaccinated may be banned from restaurants, movie theaters and sports stadiums. Apparently believing lack of access to them is the problem, the White House is considering se...
Jul 26, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for July 23rd, 2021. Instead of stories today we’ll be answering some questions many people might be having about breakthrough cases. Cases of COVID in those who have been fully vaccinated. Do the vaccines work against Delta? So far, research shows they’re holding up well against it. A June study from the U.K. found the Pfizer vaccine is 96% effective against hospitalization from the delta variant after two doses...
Jul 23, 2021•6 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for July 22nd, 2021. Cases nearly tripled in the U.S. over the past two weeks. Hospitals are again canceling elective surgeries and procedures. Just 56.2% of Americans have gotten even one dose of the vaccine. New Orleans has become one of many cities that have gone back to “strongly recommending” mask-wearing indoors. They’re hoping to avoid total shutdowns that devastate tourism economies. Hospitalizations in N...
Jul 22, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for July 21st, 2021. The CDC Director said the Delta variant is now estimated to make up 83% of all sequenced Covid-19 cases in the U.S. That’s a dramatic rise from 50% the week of July 3. Dr. Rochelle Walensky told a Senate hearing nearly two-thirds of the counties in the U.S. have vaccinated less than 40% of residents. Fatalities have risen nearly 48% over the past week. In the UK, seven areas have been identif...
Jul 21, 2021•5 min
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 po...
Jul 20, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for July 19th, 2021. The U.S. surgeon general is attempting to sound the alarm about what’s ahead. Cases are increasing in every state, millions of Americans are still unvaccinated, and the highly contagious Delta variant is spreading rapidly. He said nearly all coronavirus deaths now are among the unvaccinated. It doesn’t appear scare tactics are going to work. A CBS News poll shows unvaccinated and partially va...
Jul 19, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for July 16th, 2021. The masks are back. Los Angeles County will again require masks be worn indoors even by those who have been vaccinated. California fully reopened its economy June 15 and did away with capacity limits and social distancing. Africa recorded a 43% jump in COVID-19 deaths last week. Infections and hospitalizations have risen, and, in some places, there are shortages of oxygen and ICU beds. The co...
Jul 16, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for July 15th, 2021. It’s a bad combination in the U.S.; young and unvaccinated. They’re the ones showing up at hospitals across the country, some even landing in ICU and on ventilators. The CDC says slightly fewer than half of 18 to 24 and 25 to 39-year-olds are fully vaccinated. Former FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb says the delta variant will keep causing problems maybe into October and will get worse bef...
Jul 15, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for July 14th, 2021. COVID-19 is rising again in the U.S. after months of decline. In fact, the number of new cases per day doubled over the past three weeks. That’s attributed to the delta variant, lagging vaccination rates, and Fourth of July gatherings. Only Maine and South Dakota did not have case numbers go up over the past two weeks. Yesterday we told you the Dutch Prime Minister apologized for an error in ...
Jul 14, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for July 13th, 2021. The World Health Organization’s director-general rebuked vaccine manufacturers focused on getting booster shots to high-income countries. He says they should instead be focusing on providing vaccine to nations that have had little access to first doses. The Dutch Prime Minister has apologized for what he called “an error of judgment” in relaxing the Netherlands' coronavirus lockdown. It’s a m...
Jul 13, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for July 12th, 2021. Los Angeles County’s spike in Covid cases continued Saturday, with a second-consecutive 1,000-plus tally of daily infections. Friday doubled the number reported a week before and was the county’s highest daily figure since March. The number’s especially alarming because tallies are usually lower on weekends since there are fewer tests and lags in reporting. Thousands of Cubans took to the str...
Jul 12, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for July 9th, 2021. Scientists believe they’re starting to understand the delta variant more. They seem to mostly agree it is the most contagious version, spreading about 225% faster than the original. And a new study says delta grows faster inside our respiratory tracts and to much higher levels. On average, people infected with the delta variant had about 1,000x more copies of the virus in their respiratory tra...
Jul 09, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for July 8th, 2021. The World Health Organization is getting nervous COVID-19 restrictions are being lifted way too soon considering the rate at which the delta variant is spreading. Its head of emergencies urged countries "not to lose the gains you've made". England, in particular, is coming under heated questioning and criticism for lifting restrictions July 19. And here’s the reason that criticism is happening...
Jul 08, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for July 7th, 2021. The CDC says the delta variant is now the dominant strain in the U.S., accounting for more than 51% of COVID-19 cases. In parts of the U.S., Midwestern states like Missouri, Kansas, and Iowa, delta accounts for more than 80% of new infections. New data from Israel shows the Pfizer vaccine appears less effective at preventing COVID-19 cases from the delta variant but it’s still highly effective...
Jul 07, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for July 6th, 2021. A very politically charged decision in Britain, which plans to get rid of laws requiring face masks and social distancing later this month despite surging delta variant numbers. The Prime Minister has even admitted doing so will likely drive the number of cases higher. While he stressed the pandemic is far from over, he said Britain would have to “learn to live with this virus.” Super spreader...
Jul 06, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for July 5th, 2021. We know the U.S. did not reach its goal of partially vaccinating 70% of Americans by July 4. But 20 states did. But there are some states where the vaccination level is 35% or less. The World Health Organization said the variants are moving faster than the global vaccine rollout. It’s urging leaders to speed up vaccinations or risk being overwhelmed. Delta’s been detected in at least 98 countr...
Jul 05, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for July 2nd, 2021. The African Union’s envoy tasked with procuring vaccines is blasting Europe, saying “not one dose, not one vial, has left a European factory for Africa.” The continent is experiencing a crushing third surge. The envoy accuses COVAX of withholding the fact key donors aren’t delivering on the money they promised the program. A leading vaccination country is struggling as well. Israel reported it...
Jul 02, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for July 1st, 2021. A new Oxford University study shows AstraZeneca and Pfizer’s vaccine remain broadly effective against Delta and Kappa variants. They looked at the ability of antibodies in the blood from vaccinated people to neutralize those variants. The study did show the concentration of neutralizing antibodies was somewhat reduced, which explains some breakthrough infections. We’ve said it many times; we r...
Jul 01, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for June 30th, 2021. A new poll shows Americans are worried about the Delta variant…just not worried enough to do anything about it. The Ipsos poll shows more than 70% are at least somewhat concerned about it, but only 55% are wearing a mask all or sometimes when they leave the house and only 34% social distanced in the past week. And even if there was a new spike in cases, respondents were mostly unlikely to say...
Jun 30, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for June 29th, 2021. The World Health Organization says get your masks back on. Even if you’re fully vaccinated, mask up and go back to social distancing. But CDC guidance is that “fully vaccinated people can resume activities without a mask or physically distancing.” Plus, experts say vaccines authorized in the U.S. remain largely effective against the Delta variant. So again, we have public health bureaucracies...
Jun 29, 2021•5 min
This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for June 28th, 2021. The delta variant continues to turn back the clock. Moscow had a record 144 deaths in 24 hours yesterday. Germany declared Portugal a “virus-variant zone”, banning most arrivals from that country and is trying to ban British travelers from all EU countries regardless of vaccination status. Greece warned strict local lockdowns may be needed over the summer in some areas. Indonesia recorded a n...
Jun 28, 2021•5 min
