California is on the verge of overtaking New York as the state with the highest number of COVID-19 deaths in the USA, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, with more than 45,000 deaths in each.
As of Wednesday morning, the death toll in California was 45,009, just behind the 45,140 deaths in New York. The two states were hardest hit in terms of the absolute number of deaths and California had more cases of COVID-19 than any other, with 3.4 million infections since the start of the pandemic.
The pandemic had reversed trajectories in New York and California. While New York’s cases and fatalities rose to more than 14,000 cases and 1,200 in a single day at their respective peaks, California was one of the first states to crash, and it had a relatively mild spring for COVID-19.
Now, deaths in New York are falling well below 200 a day, while a wave of infections overwhelmed California hospitals after the holidays, keeping daily deaths above 500 on almost every day last month.
Even as California is approaching a dark milestone now, there are encouraging signs that the pandemic may be hitting a plateau in the United States – at least for now.
The United States registered 95,360 new cases and 3,131 deaths on Tuesday, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
The seven-day average number of new cases per day has dropped to its lowest level since 7 November. With 105,786, the average number of daily infections is now 57 percent less than it was a month ago, on January 9.
And the downward trend in hospitalizations continues in the US. A total of 79,179 Americans were receiving inpatient care for COVID-19 – 30,000 less than they were hospitalized two weeks ago, on January 26.
Although deaths in the United States in a 24-hour period surpassed 3,000 again on Tuesday, this trend of fatalities is also finally moving in the right direction. The seven-day average of daily deaths is now 2,900 – 12% below the two-week average.
Despite the alarmingly high number of deaths, the tide appears to be shifting to California as well, with 10,584 new cases reported on Tuesday, compared with about 40,000 a day recorded in January.
The death rate in California is also starting to decline after months of relentless growth, with weekly fatalities dropping about 20% from January’s peak.
And now cases have declined in 43 states, compared to new infection rates from two weeks ago, according to data from the COVID Tracking Project. In the remaining four states, daily cases are continuing. The only place where daily infections are increasing is the territory of Guam.
The death toll in California lagged that of New York by less than 140, with 45,009 deaths on Wednesday morning as it was about to surpass New York’s 451.45
Last week, the seven-day average for new cases declined by 10 percent or more in 43 states and remained stable in eight
The seven-day average for deaths has dropped 10% or more in 24 states in the past week. The rate remained stable in 18 states and increased 10% or more in eight states
However, deaths are still increasing in nine states: Delaware, Kansas, Indiana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Virginia, West Virginia, Vermont and Washington, DC.
The average death toll in California fell 17 percent compared to last week, while New York fatalities remain roughly the same, with only a 4 percent decline compared to last week.
California Health Secretary Mark Ghaly said the 45,000 mark was a ‘heartbreaking reminder that Covid-19 is a deadly virus’.
“We are sorry to the side of every Californian who suffered the tragic loss of a loved one during this pandemic,” said Ghaly.
Despite being on the verge of exceeding the death toll in New York, California is in better shape than New York with regard to the number of deaths per capita.
California ranks 32nd in the country, with 113 deaths per 100,000 people, while New York ranks second with 230 – behind New Jersey just 248, according to data from Statista.
Even in October, the absolute number of deaths in California was less than half that of New York, but America’s most populous state emerged as a major epicenter during an outbreak of infections and hospital cases at the end of the year that swept through much of the parents.
New York’s new cases, hospitalizations and deaths are on the decline and now has fewer than 150 deaths a day
The death toll in California continued to rise after the Thanksgiving holiday, although his hospitalizations and cases finally declined after a January peak that saw more than 50,000 people hospitalized on any given day.
Deaths began to rise to unprecedented levels in December, reaching hundreds daily in an increase that saw almost 15,000 deaths recorded in January alone.
But a new blockade has managed to halt that growth, with infections plummeting by more than 70% since they reached their peak in late December.
Tuesday’s numbers showed just 8,251 new infections the day before, the first time the daily number has fallen below 10,000 since November 17.
The slowdown in new infections is now starting to show its effects on hospitalizations and deaths, with the daily average of deaths dropping from 565 in late January to 450 on Tuesday.
Now, however, California and the United States as a whole have a new threat to face. Last month, experts estimated that about a quarter of COVID-19 cases in the state were caused by an internally developed variant of the virus.
And the state has the second highest number of ‘supercovid’ cases in the UK from any other country, with at least 156 confirmed B117 infections. It is second only to Florida, where there are at least 343 cases.
The variant that emerged and became dominant in the UK last year now accounts for about one to four percent of all cases in the United States, said the director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr. Rochelle Walensky, during a press conference at the White House on Wednesday. .
This graph shows decreasing infection rates in California (purple), New York state (green) and New York City (blue), with the latter two being counted separately by the CDC
Falling infection rates in California have eased pressure on hospitals (pictured, a patient with a virus is intubated at Providence Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo)
California scientists suspect that variants – including both the local form and the UK’s ‘supercover’ – may have fueled the peak of cases last month and, in turn, the increase in hospitalizations and deaths.
Although it has fallen, the death rate still remains “remarkably” high, Governor Gavin Newsom said during a news conference on Tuesday.
“The deaths continue to be devastating,” said Newsom, speaking during the opening of a vaccination post at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara County, near San Francisco.
The number of hospitalized patients has also dropped, with 11,904 people in the hospital in Tuesday’s update, compared to a peak of more than 22,000 at one stage.
The slowdown in infection rates has also eased the pressure on ICUs, where capacity is increasing again for the first time in months.
Newsom, a Democrat, eased some of the state’s blocking measures in January, allowing restaurants to reopen for outdoor dining.
New York is also looking to ease the restrictions after the cases also fell from their peak in January, reflecting a gradual improvement in virus numbers across the country.
In New York, where nearly 30,000 died during the initial outbreak of early 2020, the deaths this winter have not returned to the disastrous numbers of last spring.
Although the state’s death rate is still at its highest level since May, the average daily deaths dropped to 168 on Tuesday, compared with 198 on January 20.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, pictured, eased some restrictions, but says the death rate is still “remarkably” high
The United States as a whole reported 27.25 million infections and 468,559 deaths, as of last Tuesday.
Just over 79,000 patients in the U.S. were hospitalized with Covid-19 on Tuesday, the lowest daily number since mid-November.
Public health experts fear that Sunday’s Super Bowl celebrations, as well as the arrival of new highly contagious variants of the virus, could lead to another increase in cases before most Americans are vaccinated.
In an effort to speed up the immunization process, President Biden announced on Tuesday that his government planned to increase the number of vaccine doses sent to states.
Part of the supply will be sent to community health centers in an effort to improve access to the vaccine for the majority of the poor and minority populations, the White House said.
On Tuesday, about 33 million Americans received at least one dose of the vaccine to fight the coronavirus, said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“This vaccine is the weapon that will win this war,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told a news conference on Tuesday.
Ten percent of New York state residents received the vaccine, he said.