California has surpassed 25,000 deaths from the coronavirus on Thursday since the pandemic began, the third state in the country to cross the border, after New York and Texas, health officials said.
The announcement comes as the country’s most populous state is seeing a wave of coronavirus infections, leaving hospitals on the brink of capacity and forcing doctors and nurses to treat more patients than usual. California also confirmed the second case reported in the United States of a new, more contagious variant of the virus.
The State Department of Health says hospitals in Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley agricultural area, which together make up the majority of the state’s 40 million residents, no longer have capacity in their care units. intensive care for patients with COVID-19.
California was the third state to reach 25,000 deaths. According to Johns Hopkins University, New York has nearly 38,000 and Texas more than 27,000.
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California reported its first case of coronavirus in late January. He recorded his 10,000th death from the virus in August.
This week, Los Angeles County hit a “terrible milestone,” with 274 deaths in 24 hours, for a total of 10,056 deaths, said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, county health director. The most populous county in the country has had 40% of the deaths from the virus in California.
Most of the state is under extensive restrictions that have shut down businesses or reduced their capacity, and people are urged to stay home for as long as possible to try and slow the spread of the virus.
Authorities have warned they will patrol the streets to avoid massive New Year’s celebrations that could spread the coronavirus.
Meanwhile, California became the second state in the country to report a case of a new, apparently more contagious, variant of the virus, which was initially confirmed in Britain.
The patient, who developed symptoms Dec. 27, is a 30-year-old San Diego County man with no travel history, which could indicate someone else brought the variant to the state, authorities said.