Covid-19 has already killed nearly 51,000 people in California, which on Wednesday became the first state to experience 50,000 coronavirus-related deaths, according to a report count from NBC News.
The state recorded more than 3.5 million infections, a statistic that also leads the country based on gross numbers. California is also the most populous state, with about 40 million people.
On Wednesday night, New York State recorded more than 48,000 deaths and Texas more than 42,000, according to the NBC News count.
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Part of the increase in reported deaths in California on Wednesday came from Los Angeles County, which announced 806 deaths that were initially not counted as associated with Covid-19.
The county health department said these deaths occurred after extensive checks on death records and occurred during a massive spike from December 3 to February 3.
At the time of the sudden increase, not all deaths were reported to the department because of the volume of records, officials said. A subsequent review of vital records that list the cause of death found them, he said. There have been more than 9,700 deaths reported from December to January, he said.
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“It is moving to report this large number of additional deaths associated with Covid-19 and a devastating reminder of the terrible tribute the winter wave has caused to so many families across the county,” Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Public, said in a statement.
New cases of Covid-19 reported daily have been dropping across the country in recent weeks, but health experts said the numbers are still very high.
On Sunday, the country exceeded 500,000 deaths. As of Wednesday night, the United States recorded more than 28 million cases, according to the NBC News count.