Axios: “Coronavirus deaths continue to reach tragic heights while the country grapples with a vaccine rollout, an impeachment and ongoing civil unrest. The state of play: States with the top-five death rates per 100,000 residents as of Thursday January 14, 2021 include…

• New Jersey, with 227 people dead per 100,000 residents
• Massachusetts — 196
• Rhode Island — 188
• South Dakota — 186
• Connecticut — 182

Also via Axios – “The U.S. is now averaging nearly 250,000 new coronavirus cases per day — a crisis of staggering proportions, even though many Americans have tuned it out. The big picture: It’s not even sufficient to say the pandemic is “still going on,” as if it’s a fire that hasn’t finished burning out. The pandemic is raging. Its deadliest and most dangerous days are happening right now. And it keeps getting worse.”