California is poised to surpass New York as the state with the highest number of COVID-19 deaths in the United States, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, with more than 45,000 deaths each.
As of Wednesday morning, the California tax amounted to 45,009, just behind the 45,140 deaths in New York. The two states were the hardest hit in terms of the high number of deaths, and California had more cases of COVID-19 than any other, with 3.4 million infections since the beginning of the pandemic.
The pandemic has reversed in New York and California. While cases and deaths in New York rose to more than 14,000 cases and 1,200 in a single day, at those peaks, California was one of the first states to block and had a relatively easy source for COVID-19.
Now, deaths in New York remain well below 200 a day, while a wave of infections has swept California hospitals after the holidays, keeping more than 500 deaths daily in almost every day of the past month.
Even though California is now approaching a gloomy stage, there are encouraging signs that the pandemic could reach a plateau in the United States – at least for now.
The United States recorded 95,360 new cases and 3,131 deaths on Tuesday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The average number of new cases seven days a day fell to its lowest level since November 7. At 105,786, the average number of daily infections is 57% lower than it was a month ago, on January 9th.
And the downward trend in hospitalizations continues in the United States. A total of 79,179 Americans were receiving internal care for COVID-19 – 30,000 fewer than they were hospitalized two weeks ago, on January 26th.
While US deaths in a 24-hour period again exceeded 3,000 on Tuesday, this trend in deaths is also moving in the right direction. The seven-day average of daily deaths is now 2,900 – down 12% from the average two weeks ago.
Despite its horribly high number of deaths, the tide also seems to return for California, with 10,584 new cases registered on Tuesday, compared to about 40,000 per day recorded in January.
California’s mortality rate is also starting to decline after months of steady growth, with weekly deaths down about 20% from their January peak.
And cases are now declining in 43 states, compared to new infection rates two weeks ago, according to COVID Tracking Project data. In the other four states, daily cases remain stable. The only place where daily infections grow is the territory of Guam.
The death toll in California followed Wednesday morning in New York with less than 140 people, with 45,009 deaths, as it was ready to surpass 451.45 in New York
In the last week, the seven-day average for new cases fell by 10% or more in 43 states and remained constant in eight states.
The seven-day average death toll has dropped by 10% or more in 24 states in the past week. The rate remained constant in 18 states and increased by 10% or more in eight states
However, deaths are still rising in nine states: Delaware, Kansas, Indiana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Virginia, West Virginia, Vermont and Washington, DC.
Average deaths in California fell 17% from last week, while deaths in New York remain about the same, down just 4% from last week.
California Health Secretary Mark Ghaly said 45,000 landmarks were a “heartbreaking reminder that Covid-19 is a deadly virus.”
“We mourn with every Californian who has suffered the tragic loss of a loved one during this pandemic,” Ghaly said.
Despite being on the verge of exceeding the death toll in New York, California is in better shape than New York when it comes 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 only New Jersey with 248, according to Statista data.
Recently, in October, the total death toll in California was less than half that of New York, but the most populous state in America emerged as a major epicenter during a wave of infections and hospital cases that included a much of the country.
New cases, hospitalizations and deaths in New York are declining and now account for less than 150 deaths a day
The death toll in California has continued to rise after the Thanksgiving holiday, although hospitalizations and cases are finally declining after a January peak that saw more than 50,000 people hospitalized on a given day.
Deaths began to rise to unprecedented levels in December, rising by hundreds daily, following a wave that recorded nearly 15,000 deaths in January alone.
But a new blockade has managed to stop this growth, with infections falling by more than 70 percent since they peaked in late December.
Tuesday’s figures showed only 8,251 new infections the day before, the first time the daily number has been below 10,000 since November 17.
The slowdown in new infections is now beginning to show its effects on hospitalizations and deaths, with the average daily death toll falling from 565 at the end of January to 450 on Tuesday.
Now, California and the United States as a whole have a new threat to face, though. Last month, experts estimated that about a quarter of COVID-19 cases in the state were due to a variant of the virus’s origin.
And the state has the second highest number of “super-covide” cases in the UK in any of the countries with at least 156 confirmed B117 infections. Follow only 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 Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). White House press briefing on Wednesday. .
This chart shows declining infection rates in California (purple), New York State (green) and New York (blue), the latter two being counted separately by the CDC.
Declining California infection rates have eased pressure on hospitals (pictured, a virus patient is intubated at Providence Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo)
Scientists in California suspect that the variants – including both the domestic form and the “super-covid” in the UK – could have fueled last month’s increase in the number and, in turn, the increase in hospitalizations and deaths.
Although it has fallen, the mortality rate is still “remarkably” high, Governor Gavin Newsom told a news conference on Tuesday.
“Death continues to be devastating,” Newsom said, speaking at the opening of a vaccination site at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara County, near San Francisco.
The number of hospitalized patients also fell by 11,904 people hospitalized at Tuesday’s update, compared to a peak of more than 22,000 at one stage.
The rate of infection slowdown has also eased the pressure on ICUs, if capacity is checked 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 al fresco dining.
New York is also looking to ease restrictions after cases dropped similarly since the January peak, reflecting a gradual improvement in virus numbers across the country.
In New York, where nearly 30,000 died during the initial outbreak in early 2020, deaths this winter did not return to the disastrous numbers of last spring.
While the state’s mortality rate is still at its highest level since May, average daily deaths have dropped to 168 since Tuesday, compared with 198 on January 20.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, pictured, eased some restrictions, but says mortality is still “remarkably” high
The United States as a whole reported 27.25 million infections and 468,559 deaths as of late Tuesday.
Just over 79,000 American patients were hospitalized with Covid-19 on Tuesday, the lowest daily number since mid-November.
Public health experts fear that Sunday’s meetings for the Super Bowl holidays, as well as the arrival of new highly contagious variants of the virus, could lead to a further increase in cases before most Americans are vaccinated.
In an effort to speed up the immunization process, President Biden announced on Tuesday that his administration intends to increase the number of vaccine doses shipped to states.
Part of the supply will be sent to community health centers in an effort to improve access to vaccines for the majority of the poor and minority, the White House said.
By Tuesday, about 33 million Americans had received at least one dose of vaccine to fight the coronavirus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.
“This vaccine is the weapon that will win this war,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday.
Ten percent of New Yorkers received the vaccine, he said.