COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to decline in California after a massive winter surge brought the state back to some of the pandemic’s most stringent blocking orders. Meanwhile, nearly 7 million doses of vaccine have been administered in the state, after one of the slowest starts in the country.
On Friday, California counties reported 7,621 new cases of COVID-19, according to data monitored by this news organization, reducing the state’s seven-day average of new cases to 7,081. This is the lowest average since November 12, at the beginning of the winter wave. The average number of new daily cases has decreased by 82 percent since the beginning of the year.
Los Angeles County, the largest and hardest hit in the state, reported 2,432 new cases, followed by San Diego County with 812 and San Bernardino County with 517. They were followed by Sacramento, Riverside and Orange Counties.
Across the state, the number of hospitalized patients with confirmed cases of COVID-19 decreased on Thursday by 4.9 percent from the previous day to 7,514. This represents a drop from the peak of almost 22,000 patients hospitalized in early January. The number of patients in intensive care unit beds with confirmed cases fell 5.7 percent on Thursday to 2,207. There were almost 5,000 ICU patients with COVID-19 in early January.
These positive trends come as the number of vaccinated Californians continues to increase. As of Thursday, 6,929,954 doses of vaccine had been administered in the state, 78.5 percent of the doses delivered. Latin residents, who represent 60% of the cases and 39% of the population, received 16% of the vaccine doses.
Despite improving overall figures, deaths from COVID-19 remain high in the state. On Friday, 479 COVID-19 deaths were reported by California counties, bringing the state’s seven-day average to 340 daily deaths. Fatality trends tend to lag behind cases and hospitalizations, and deaths have been decreasing since the peak of January 27, at 566 average daily deaths. During the state’s summer peak, California peaked with an average of 145 deaths in seven days.
In the bay area, Santa Clara County reported 207 new cases and 17 deaths, for a total of 108,462 cases and 1,725 deaths. Alameda County reported 205 cases and 45 deaths, for a total of 79,297 cases and 1,171 deaths.
Contra Costa County reported 150 cases and 11 deaths, for a total of 61,284 cases and 643 deaths. San Francisco reported 90 cases and 11 deaths, for a total of 33,397 cases and 387 deaths. And San Mateo County has reported 88 cases and 16 deaths, for a total of 38,124 cases and 497 deaths since the pandemic began.