A day after California surpassed the total of 40,000 deaths caused by COVID-19, the trend for new infections and hospitalizations continued to decline across the state, as public health officials see the increase in winter slowing.
In the bay area on Saturday, authorities reported 1,745 new cases of the coronavirus and 98 new deaths, almost exactly a year after the deadly disease was first detected in California. Now, one in every 1,000 residents of the state has died of the virus.
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.
In the bay area, the numbers are also dismal.
In San Mateo County, 277 new cases and 26 new deaths were recorded – the third highest number ever. The total number of cases in the county is 35,235 and 382 people died from the virus.
In San Francisco, nine people were killed by the virus, while 140 people were infected, bringing the total to 30,814 cases and 317 deaths.
Contra Costa County reported a total of 56,575 cases of the virus and 528 deaths. On Saturday, authorities reported 323 new cases and 3 new deaths.
Alameda County officials said 518 new cases of the virus were reported and 22 people died, bringing the total to 73,115 cases and 959 deaths.
Santa Clara County reported 766 new cases and 30 new deaths from the virus, for a total of 100,468 cases and 1,344 deaths. The county passed the 100,000 mark on Friday.
And in the four counties of North Bay – covering Marin, Sonoma, Solano and Napa counties – 62,816 people in total were infected with the virus, including 487 new cases registered on Saturday. A total of 608 people died of the virus in North Bay, eight of which were declared dead on Saturday.