This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots… Just the facts… for March 3rd, 2021.

You would think the pandemic is completely over. Texas and Mississippi are lifting their mask mandates. And doctors and big city leaders say they’re bracing for a deadly resurgence. Business occupancy limits are also being relaxed but businesses can choose to impose their own restrictions. North Dakota, Montana, and Iowa have also lifted mask orders in recent weeks.

Perhaps that optimism is coming from Washington. Messaging out of the White House is that the U.S. expects to take delivery of enough vaccine for all adults by the end of May — that’s two months earlier than anticipated.

Some are quite the opposite of optimistic. Infectious disease expert Dr. Michael Osterholm told MSNBC when non-vaccinated low and middle-income countries get infected, even more new strains will be created. He said the B117 variant was “at 1 or 2%” in early January and is already 20 to 30% of all found viruses. He estimates the U.S. is two and a half weeks away from crossing 50% when a hurricane of cases will begin.

An foreshadowing of that may be Italy. According to their health minister, the U.K. variant is prevalent among infected schoolchildren there and is fueling a “robust” uptick in contagion that is pervasive. Sure enough, 54% of cases in Italy involved that variant in a February measurement.

This may not feel right, but in Illinois, smokers are now a priority group eligible for the vaccine. Though self-imposed, it’s still a high-risk medical condition. And the CDC says about 15.5% of Illinois adults smoke. Compare that to Oregon, which has excluded smokers from qualifying to get the vaccine.

In the United States cases were down 21%, deaths are down 17%, and hospitalizations down 29% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending flat since February 21. 

There are now 8,936,169 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: Crowley, CO. Caldwell, KY. La Salle, TX. Petersburg Borough, AK. Concho, TX. Calhoun, TX. Johnson, WY. Cimarron, OK. Aleutians West Census Area, AK. And Kane, UT.

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

There have been 516,476 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: California 293. Texas 275. Virginia 160. Florida 139. Georgia 104. New York 93. Arizona 81. Pennsylvania 68. Alabama 60. And Oklahoma 56.

The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that’s had at least one dose, Alaska at 22.9%, New Mexico at 21.9%, and South Dakota at 21%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Georgia at 12.1%, Utah at 12.2%, and Texas at 12.7%.

Globally, cases were up 2% and deaths down 21% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending up since February 21.  

There are now 21,623,570 active cases around the world.

The five countries with the most new cases: Brazil 58,237. the United States 56,890. France 22,857. Italy 17,083. And India 15,704.

There have now been 2,547,493 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide.

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