COVID-19 Compilation: Part 49 - February 28-March 6, 2021
On March 14th, 2020, I began posting COVID-19 updates to my facebook page, regarding the status of the COVID-19 pandemic. I have used data from worldometer as a primary source for daily and cumulative data, with frequent supplementation from various national and local sites.
Notables this week:
- the number of people in the United States receiving two vaccination doses now exceeds the number of reported COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic
- several states, starting with Texas and Mississippi, have announced easing or even elimination of COVID-19 restrictions
- Cases and Deaths in the United States fell significantly
- Cases worldwide were up slightly, including increases in 6 of the 10 countries with the most cases
This blog post compiles the period of February 28th through March 6th, 2021. see https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ for more
FEBRUARY 28
| Today's counts | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Total Cases | Cases Today | Total Deaths | Deaths Today |
| World | 114.70 million | 319,880 | 2.543 million | 6,356 |
| USA | 29.26 million | 52,966 | 525,787 | 1,285 |
The USA hasn't been under 50,000 new cases on a single day since October 12, 2020. Late reporting may cause today's numbers eventually to surpass 50,000.
Today marks the end of a full year since the first reported US death from COVID-19. For the month just ended, cases and deaths were down substantially in most of the world, but we started to see some numbers going back up in some regions toward the end of the month.
The table below shows the February vs. January numbers for the 13 countries that have reported more than two million total COVID-19 cases to date; the percentage change is on a per day basis.
 |
| COVID-19 Cases and Deaths Worldwide, February 2021 |
MARCH 1
| Today's counts | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Total Cases | Cases Today | Total Deaths | Deaths Today |
| World | 114.92 million | 295,084 | 2.550 million | 6,788 |
| USA | 29.31 million | 53,545 | 527,226 | 1,440 |
The FDA approved the Johnson & Johnson one shot viral vector vaccine today, which in clinical trials was 100% effective in preventing hospitalization and death from COVID-19.
The US has surpassed 50,000,000 people having received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
As I noted yesterday, cases were down sharply in most of the world in February, including more than 50% in the United States. The table below shows the 20 states with the most overall cases during the pandemic. All of them were down at least 39.5% on a daily basis in February. Most were also down in deaths, with the very notable exception of Virginia (up more than 60%), Georgia and Florida.
 |
| COVID-19 Cases and Deaths in the USA, February 2021 |
MARCH 2
| Today's counts | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Total Cases | Cases Today | Total Deaths | Deaths Today |
| World | 115.31 million | 372,432 | 2.560 million | 9,553 |
| USA | 29.39 million | 57,402 | 529,302 | 2,52 |
For the first time in 2021, the United States did not have the most reports of COVID-19 cases; that dubious honor went to Brazil.
Texas and Mississippi both announced that they are lifting mask restrictions. Due to the weather events of a couple weeks ago that artificially depressed reporting, the case numbers are way up over the past 10 days in each state. Reporting appears to have caught up now, and Texas is still down 71% since its January 15th high, and Mississippi is down 76% since its January 11th high.
MARCH 3
| Today's counts | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Total Cases | Cases Today | Total Deaths | Deaths Today |
| World | 115.76 million | 446,461 | 2.572 million | 10,991 |
| USA | 29.46 million | 67,225 | 531,721 | 2,380 |
In Catalonia, Spain, yesterday, there was an announcement, "The Community of Catalonia has eliminated duplicate cases." Nearly 75,000 cases, or about 15% of the grand total of cases in Catalonia, were duplicates.
In Brazil, there were almost 75,000 new cases today, the 2nd highest ever in that country.
In Alabama, The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) processed a backlog of 2114 positive PCR results from a facility dating back to May, 2020.
Elsewhere in the United States, President Biden slammed the lifting of restrictions in Texas and Mississippi, saying, “The last thing, the last thing we need is Neanderthal thinking," provoking entirely predictable backlash.
To which I'll offer a rare (for these reports, anyway) political aside: The last thing we need right now is politicizing the virus. We went through a year of that, in this country, and should expect better from a new administration. Time will tell whether the actions in Texas and Mississippi backfire on the leaders of those states; it's not especially clear from the data in hand what will happen. Insulting them, and insulting Neanderthals, is not the way to go.
Per the CDC, the number of people who have now received 2 vaccine doses in the United States, now exceeds the total number of reported COVID-19 cases. Of course, the total number of actual cases likely exceeds the number of reported cases by several multiples.
Also per the CDC, the total number of excess deaths due to COVID-19 is between 509,890 and 624,307, as of February 20th. As always, CDC numbers are several weeks in arrears, and will be filled in over time. The attached table shows the "low" and "high" estimates for the CDC excess deaths due to COVID-19, as well as the number at the worldometer site. It is perhaps noteworthy that the worldometer numbers are fare closer recently to the CDC excess death numbers than they were earlier during the pandemic.
Elsewhere in the United States, President Biden slammed the lifting of restrictions in Texas and Mississippi, saying, “The last thing, the last thing we need is Neanderthal thinking," provoking entirely predictable backlash.
To which I'll offer a rare (for these reports, anyway) political aside: The last thing we need right now is politicizing the virus. We went through a year of that, in this country, and should expect better from a new administration. Time will tell whether the actions in Texas and Mississippi backfire on the leaders of those states; it's not especially clear from the data in hand what will happen. Insulting them, and insulting Neanderthals, is not the way to go.
MARCH 4
| Today's counts | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Total Cases | Cases Today | Total Deaths | Deaths Today |
| World | 116.21 million | 452,107 | 2.582 million | 10,144 |
| USA | 29.53 million | 68,658 | 533,768 | 2,049 |
MARCH 5
| Today's counts | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Total Cases | Cases Today | Total Deaths | Deaths Today |
| World | 116.66 million | 449,709 | 2.592 million | 9,833 |
| USA | 29.60 million | 69,240 | 535,604 | 1,836 |
Per the CDC, the number of people who have now received 2 vaccine doses in the United States, now exceeds the total number of reported COVID-19 cases. Of course, the total number of actual cases likely exceeds the number of reported cases by several multiples.
Also per the CDC, the total number of excess deaths due to COVID-19 is between 509,890 and 624,307, as of February 20th. As always, CDC numbers are several weeks in arrears, and will be filled in over time. The attached table shows the "low" and "high" estimates for the CDC excess deaths due to COVID-19, as well as the number at the worldometer site. It is perhaps noteworthy that the worldometer numbers are fare closer recently to the CDC excess death numbers than they were earlier during the pandemic.
MARCH 6
| Today's counts | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Total Cases | Cases Today | Total Deaths | Deaths Today |
| World | 117.07 million | 410,359 | 2.599 million | 7,870 |
| USA | 29.65 million | 58,934 | 537,126 | 1,519 |
| This week's counts | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Cases This Week | Percent Change | Deaths This Week | Percent Change |
| World | 2.75 million | +1.1% | 61,769 | -2.9% |
| USA | 0.43 million | -12.7% | 12,630 | -8.9% |
For the 2nd consecutive week, COVID-19 cases went up worldwide, Among the 10 countries with the most overall cases, 6 had more cases this week than the prior week: up 24% in Italy and Turkey, 12% in Brazil, 9% in France. 8% in India, and 4% in Germany. Brazil presently has its highest 7-day rolling average for new cases since the start of the pandemic.
In the USA, after a pause in the case decline last week that was due somewhat to the reporting interruptions, the case and death counts had substantial declines. The chart below shows US and world case and death counts, by week.
 |
| COVID-19 Cases and Deaths Worldwide and USA, by week |
Comments