California recorded its 40,000th COVID-19 death on Friday, driven beyond the tragic milestone by a winter wave that saw cases and deaths soar in a state that was once seen as a model for effectively fighting the coronavirus.
Almost exactly a year after the coronavirus was first detected in California, one in every 1,000 residents of the state died of the virus. On Friday, counties reported 641 deaths in COVID-19, according to data tracked by this news agency, bringing the total to 40,186. California now has a weekly average of 546 deaths per day – on November 12, before the winter peak, the state averaged just 39 deaths daily.
Only New York recorded more total deaths, 42,299. But California is the most populous state in the union and per capita, it has a lower death rate than other major states with 102 deaths per 100,000 residents, compared with 221 per 100,000 in New York, 127 per 100,000 in Texas and 122 per 100,000 in Florida.
Deaths and cases sped up in California during the winter and the holiday season, with cases only beginning to decline in the past two weeks – deaths often lag behind cases and are still close to records. It took California six months to register its first 10,000 deaths, then four months to double to 20,000. In just another five weeks, the state reached 30,000. Then it took just 20 days to reach 40,000.
The virus has disproportionately affected people of color, essential workers at increased risk of exposure and families in crowded homes where an infection in the workplace can turn into a domestic outbreak. Latinos account for 46% of deaths among people aged 18 and over – where almost all deaths occurred – and 36% of the population. Black and Pacific Islander residents are also overrepresented in COVID-19 deaths.
Los Angeles County, the most populous in the country, with a quarter of the state’s nearly 40 million residents, has more than 40% of California’s virus deaths. In November, the daily number of Latin deaths was 3.5 per 100,000 residents. There are now 40 deaths per 100,000, an increase of more than 1,100 percent.
The death toll brought other gloomy signs. Mortuaries and funeral homes have been overloaded and refrigerated trucks are holding bodies.
That statewide milestone coincided with another in the bay area – with 766 new cases on Friday, Santa Clara County now registered 100,468 cases, the first county in the region to cross 100,000 infections. This number does not include infections that have not been tested.
“It’s a major milestone, which I think none of us ever wanted to see,” said Dr. Marty Fenstersheib, Santa Clara County COVID-19 testing and vaccine officer, during a news conference on Friday.
The municipality also recorded 30 deaths on Friday, for a total of 1,344 deaths, 80 percent of which are people over 65, which is what guided the decision to make this age limit for vaccination.
“It is important to remember each one and know that, as a community, we are working hard to avoid receiving additional cases, to try to protect ourselves and that everyone in our community needs to work for this effort,” he said. “We must all do everything that is within our reach to avoid seeing more cases and deaths in our community. ”
California counties reported 20,138 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday. The state now has a seven-day average of 21,492 cases – a 52% decline from the recent peak of 44,629 average daily cases established on January 10. California has reported nearly 3.3 million cases.
Los Angeles County reported the highest number of new cases on Friday, at 6,452. Riverside County reported 1,805 cases and San Diego County 1,670 cases, followed by Orange and San Bernardino counties.
Across the state, the number of patients hospitalized or in intensive care unit beds with confirmed cases of COVID-19 also declined from the peaks in early January. Hospitalizations fell 3.4 percent on Thursday from the previous day to 15,705. This represents a 28% drop from the early January high. ICU use also declined 1.2 percent on Thursday, to 4,145 patients. That is 15 percent below the peak in early January.
Los Angeles County again topped the death toll, with 225 deaths on Friday, then Orange County with 107 and San Diego County with 37. This was followed by Riverside, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.
In the bay area, Alameda County has reported 518 new cases and 22 deaths, for a total of 73,115 cases and 959 deaths since the pandemic began. Contra Costa County reported 323 cases and three deaths, for a total of 56,575 cases and 528 deaths. San Mateo County reported 277 cases and 26 deaths for a total of 35,235 cases and 382 deaths. San Francisco reported 140 new cases and nine deaths, for a total of 30,814 cases and 317 deaths.
California also administered 3,078,250 doses of vaccine as of Thursday, 65 percent of the doses the state has sent to local health departments, health systems and state agencies. In Santa Clara County, authorities said on Friday that about 28 percent of residents aged 75 and over received the first dose of the vaccine, which requires two separate doses, and 8 percent of county residents over 16 years old received the first dose.
The Associated Press contributed to this report