One in 1,000 Californians has died of COVID-19.
On Friday, California surpassed 40,000 coronavirus deaths, another milestone that occurs as the state is emerging from a winter surge.
More than half – at least 22,500 Californians – have died of COVID-19 since November 1, of an accumulated death toll of more than 40,100.
Only New York suffered more total coronavirus-related deaths than California. California – the nation’s most populous state – reported about 101 deaths per 100,000 residents, the 36th highest cumulative COVID-19 death rate among the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Many other major states have higher per capita deaths, including New York, New Jersey, Texas and Florida, according to The Times tracker. New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, South Dakota and Rhode Island have twice the death rate in California.
Still, the loss of life is difficult to fully understand. The death toll exceeds the total population of Culver City or West Hollywood.
While there are hopeful signs that the worst wave of the pandemic has peaked, officials say they expect the death toll to continue to rise significantly in the coming days, as more victims of the latest increase lose their battle with COVID-19.
“We have a long way to go before our hospitals are not stressed and fewer people die each day,” said Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer.
In the past week, an average of 539 Californians died of COVID-19 every day – one of the highest rates in the pandemic, according to data compiled by The Times.
While other important COVID-19 measures, such as recently confirmed infections and how many people are hospitalized with the disease, have dropped in recent weeks, the number of Californians dying each day has remained at, or close to, high levels.
This is expected, experts say, as fatalities represent the final phase of the multi-week devastation of COVID-19.
While many people infected with the coronavirus may experience only mild symptoms, or none at all, some – health officials estimate between 10% and 12% – will eventually become sick enough to require hospital-level care, usually about two weeks later. . And although some end up being discharged, others will continue to deteriorate for a period of days or weeks.
Because of this, there is a persistent delay in how long it takes for peak new infections to be fully reflected in the COVID-19 death count. That is why, even as California sees progress elsewhere, officials warn that the death toll is likely to remain high in the near future.
“We expect average daily mortality to remain very high,” said Dr. Christina Ghaly, director of health services for LA County.
But, she added earlier this week, that number “will happily begin to decline in the next 1-2 weeks if the transmission behavior remains the same”.
Although virtually no part of the state has escaped, the pandemic was particularly devastating in Los Angeles County. More than 16,000 LA county residents died of COVID-19 – representing about 40% of all California-related coronavirus fatalities, although LA county accounts for only about a quarter of the state’s population.
California’s recent progress, however, is promising – and it paints a tempting picture of better days ahead.
The continuous average of new coronavirus cases across the state dropped to 22,200 on Thursday, almost half what it was two weeks ago. Hospitalizations have also dropped – from about 21,000 two weeks ago to 15,705 on Thursday, according to the latest state data.
All metrics move together. Fewer infections in the early stages mean fewer people who need higher levels of care, or worsen to the point of dying in the days and weeks to come.
As a result, officials and experts say it remains vital for residents to keep their guard off and prevent the transmission of the coronavirus from recovering.
Steps like wearing masks in public, practicing good hand hygiene and keeping physical distance from those you don’t live with can help keep California on track and are especially important, officials say, as the state reopens closed sectors of its destroyed economy.
“To continue to reduce transmission, we must all commit to taking measures to help slow the spread of COVID-19,” said Ferrer in a statement. “When more sectors reopen, the risk of transmitting COVID-19 increases because people are interacting more with non-residential members. To avoid reopening that result in an increase in cases, companies and individuals need to be more diligent, not less, in complying with public health measures. “