#AloneTogether
* Worldwide death tolls: U.S.–more than 560,000, Brazil—more than 340,000.
*According to W.H.O. Director General Tedros Ghebreysus, one in four people in rich countries had received a vaccine—as opposed to one in 500 in poorer countries.
* The U.S. population is projected to grow just 0.2 percent this year. Last year it was 0.4 percent. Those are the lowest numbers in U.S. history—with the exception of the 0.1 percent decline in the Spanish Flu year of 1918.
* Medical experts agree: There is no evidence that the vaccines affect pregnancy.
* Not everybody was blindsided and devastated by the pandemic. According to Forbes, the number of billionaires jumped 30 percent in the last year—to a total of 2,755. The U.S. had the most: 724. China, including Hong Kong and Macao, was second with 698.
* This week the Biden Administration is launching a funeral assistance program that will give up to $9,000 to cover the burial costs of each American who died of COVID-19.
* According to the W.H.O., states should maintain a possitivity rate of 5 percent or less for at least two weeks before reopening. Florida’s possitivity rate, according to Johns Hopkins University, is about 10 percent.
* “Among the medical community, the prevailing sentiment is moving toward the idea that COVID likely will have some footprint in the community for the foreseeable future.”–Dr. Iahn Gonsenhauser, chief quality and patient safety officer for the Ohio State University Medical Center, on the likelihood of post-pandemic booster shots.
* Hillsborough County is now offering—through April 20–free, in-home (Pfizer-BioNTech) vaccinations for residents who are elderly, without transportation or have disabilities making it hard to travel for shots. The in-home visits are organized by Pulse Clinical Alliance, a Jacksonville-based coalition of clinicians and medical-record internet technology professionals.
* State officials have announced that about 30,000 vaccine doses have been earmarked for the Florida Department of Corrections.
* “Infodemic”: The term used to describe the crisis of COVID-19 misinformation.