This is Coronavirus 411, the latest on Omicron and other COVID variants and new hotspots for December 2nd, 2021.

The UN Secretary-General has called the travel restrictions being placed by countries like the United States on one region like South Africa not only ineffective, but travel apartheid. The Omicron variant is already in 24 countries around the world, and as it turns out, it appears it didn’t originate in South Africa anyway. The Netherlands had cases a week before two flights arrived from South Africa carrying the virus. Nine cases were linked to a private event in Scotland, days before South Africa announced the existence of the variant. And Nigeria detected its first case in a sample collected weeks before South Africa alerted the world about Omicron.

Tracking the Omicron variant’s spread, it’s in the United States now. A fully vaccinated person in the San Francisco area came back from South Africa Nov. 22 and tested positive seven days later. South Korea confirmed the variant in five people linked to international arrivals. And Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates confirmed the first infections in the Persian Gulf region. So far, all symptoms reported have been mild.

A reprieve for healthcare workers in ten states who don’t want to take the vaccine. A federal judge blocked the vaccine requirement, saying the agency that issued the rule likely exceeded its authority. That stops the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services from enforcing its healthcare worker mandate until the court can hear legal challenges brought by Missouri, Nebraska, Arkansas, Kansas, Iowa, Wyoming, Alaska, South Dakota, North Dakota and New Hampshire.

Well people who don’t like mandates sure aren’t going to like this. The chief of the European Union's executive arm said member nations should consider making vaccinations mandatory, period. The EU-wide vaccination rate stands at 66%. Germany’s new Chancellor, for one, said he’d back a proposal like that.

With reporting affected by the Thanksgiving holiday, in the United States cases were down 2%, deaths are down 16%, and hospitalizations are up 15% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending down since November 23.

The five states that had the most daily deaths per 100,000 are Wyoming, Montana, West Virginia, Michigan, and Kentucky.

There are 9,449,555 active cases in the United States.

The five states with the greatest increase in hospitalizations per capita: Rhode Island 51%, Indiana 47%, Massachusetts 43%, New Hampshire 41%, and Michigan 40%.

The top 10 counties with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Koochiching, MO. Nodaway, MO. Shiawassee, MI. Colfax, NM. Sullivan, NH. Jackson, IA. Clay, IL. Neosho, KS. Dunn, WI. And Pope, MN.

There have been at least 782,104 deaths in the U.S. recorded as Covid-related.

The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that’s been fully vaccinated: Vermont unchanged at 72.9%, Rhode Island at 72.6%, and Maine at 72.3%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are West Virginia unchanged at 41.5%, Wyoming at 45.6%, and Alabama at 46.2%. The percentage of the U.S. that’s been fully vaccinated is 59.4%.

Globally, cases were up 10% and deaths were down 4% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending up since October 15.

There are 20,471,414 active cases around the world.

The five countries with the most new cases: The United States 120,441. Germany 71,887. France 49,610. The U.K. 48,374. And Russia 32,837.

There have been at least 5,223,657 deaths reported as Covid-related worldwide.

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