COVID, Coronavirus, Omicron and Delta variants, and vaccine updates for 01-10-2022
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This is Covid 411, the latest on Omicron and other COVID variants, and new hotspots for January 10th, 2022.

COVID cases might be beginning to slow down. Looking just at New York, for the first time since mid-December, hospitalizations decreased by almost 100 patients Saturday. The daily percentage of new positive cases declined slightly for the third day in a row. This mirrors the trajectory in South Africa, which was a large spike, followed by a steep decline. No steep decline yet in the U.S. but the numbers look promising. 

The director of the CDC clarified the number of COVID hospitalizations among children. Yes, they’re rising during this surge, but it’s still not nearly the levels seen for older Americans. She also said there are actually about 3,500 children with COVID being treated in hospitals, correcting misinformation from a Supreme Court justice that there are 100,000.

Omicron is mostly mild, but it is not risk-free. Israel is seeing its first case of heart inflammation linked to an Omicron infection. A 43-year-old man who was fully vaccinated and boosted was infected and is being treated for myocarditis in intensive care. Other variants have been known to cause it and in very rare cases, it’s shown up in young men after getting an mRNA vaccine.

In one of the most cooperative vaccine states, California, uptake of booster shots isn’t very impressive. In some counties it’s as low as 23%. The state average is 38% but some high population counties including Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Diego, and San Bernadino are all lagging well behind that number. 

If you’re having trouble finding a COVID test, try China. It began mass testing of all, that’s right all, 14 million residents of the city of Tianjin. This after 20 people tested positive. The city is near Beijing where the Winter Olympics start February 4. Testing will get done in just two days. 

In the United States, cases were up 215%, deaths are up 16%, and hospitalizations are up 80% 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 Delaware, Wyoming, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.

There are now over 18 million active cases in the United States, at 18,146,166.

The five areas with the greatest increase in hospitalizations per capita: The U.S. Virgin Islands 785%. Puerto Rico 399%, Louisiana 364%. Florida 292%. And Washington, DC 216%.  

The top 10 areas with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Miami-Dade, FL. Teton, WY. New York City, NY. Pitkin, CO. Nassau, NY. Passaic, NJ. Summit, UT. Essex, NJ. Florida, PR. And Rockland, NY. 

There have been at least 837,594 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 77.8%, Rhode Island at 77.2%, and Maine at 76.7%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are Wyoming at 47.6%, Mississippi at 48%, and Alabama at 48.2%. The percentage of the U.S. that’s been fully vaccinated is 62.4%.

Globally, cases were up 213% and deaths down 2% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending up since October 15. 

There are now over 42 million active cases around the world, at 42,848,957.

The five countries with the most new cases: The United States 308,616. France 296,097. India 180,438. Italy 155,659. And the U.K. 141,472. 

There have been at least 5,488,375 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide. 

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