This is Covid 411, the latest on Omicron and other COVID variants, and new hotspots for January 13th, 2022.

A report says around 458 local, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement officers died in the line of duty in 2021, an increase of 55% and the most since 1930. 301 of those were Covid-related, making that the leading cause of death. That was also true in 2020 when at least 182 officers died of the virus.

You’ll notice that even as the vaccines open up to new, younger groups of people, the vaccination numbers in our daily report don’t seem to move very much. Authorities are starting to worry about alarmingly low vaccination rates in U.S. kids 5 to 11. As of Tuesday, just over 17% were fully vaccinated, more than two months after shots became available to that age group. 

More good news coming out of wastewater. This time it’s Boston’s. COVID samples from that city’s wastewater are trending sharply downward, suggesting the region is past the peak of the Omicron wave. The average number of coronavirus RNA copies per milliliter has dropped by over 40% in recent days. However, levels are still higher than levels found during previous surges.

Remember the Delta variant? You should because it’s still very much around and doing the damage it’s always done. The Director of the CDC said most reported Covid deaths in the U.S. are still from Delta, not Omicron. Officials are monitoring deaths over the next several weeks to measure the impact of Omicron on mortality.

People in the public eye are still learning that others are watching what they do throughout this pandemic. The U.K. Prime Minister apologized after admitting he attended a “bring your own booze” Downing Street garden party in May of 2020. He said he thought it was a work event at the time. Office employees were invited “to make the most of the lovely weather and have some socially distanced drinks in the garden” at a time when large outdoor gatherings were banned.

In the United States, cases were up 159%, deaths are up 51%, and hospitalizations are up 79% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending up since December 14.  

The five states that had the most daily deaths per 100,000 are Indiana, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Maryland. 

There are now over 20 million active cases in the United States, at 20,672,722.

The five areas with the greatest increase in hospitalizations per capita: The U.S. Virgin Islands 466%. Puerto Rico 286%, Louisiana 268%. Florida 235%. And Alabama 177%.  

The top 10 areas with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Teton, WY. Miami-Dade, FL. Greensville, VA. Pitkin, CO. Summit, UT. Tom Green, TX. Providence, RI. Rolette, ND. New York City, NY. And Logan, IL.

There have been at least 843,624 deaths in the U.S. recorded as Covid-related.

The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that’s been fully vaccinated: Vermont at 78.3%, Rhode Island at 77.3%, and Maine at 76.5%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Wyoming at 48%, Alabama at 48.1%, and Mississippi at 48.8%. The percentage of the U.S. that’s been fully vaccinated is 62.6%.

Globally, cases were up 145% and deaths up 2% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending up since October 15. 

There are now over 49 million active cases around the world, at 49,193,972.

The five countries with the most new cases: The United States 814,494. France 361,719. India 241,976. Italy 196,224. And Spain 179,125. 

There have been 5,510,327 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide. 

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