A day after California recorded its 15,000th death from COVID-19, the 200,000th American died of the virus – the latest tragic milestone coming more than seven months since the first documented coronavirus case on U.S. soil.
Counties reported another 133 deaths in California on Tuesday, according to data compiled by this news organization, increasing the statewide total to 15,203. There have been fewer deaths reported in the past seven days — 591, or an average of about 84 per day — than any week since the one that ended July 9. However, the state previously came close when it reported 597 deaths between Sept. 4-10, before the weekly total spiked to 765 between Sept. 9-15.
The U.S. death toll crossed 100,000 almost exactly four months ago, on May 28, according to Johns Hopkins University. At that time, California had just reported its 100,000th case and was approaching 4,000 fatalities. Now, there have been nearly 800,000 cases in the state — the most in the nation — and deaths here spiked over the summer, even as they slowed down nationally.
It took barely two months to reach 100,000 deaths as the virus sped furiously through the northeastern U.S. in the spring, compared to nearly four months for the next 100,000 Americans to die.
The six states with at least one death for every 1,000 residents experienced outbreaks in the spring: New Jersey (1 in 550), New York (1 in 600), Massachusetts (1 in 740), Connecticut (1 in 800), Louisiana (1 in 860) and Rhode Island (1 in 960). Mississippi and Washington, D.C. also come close, but then not one state has more than one death for every 1,300 residents, the rate in Arizona.
California, Texas and Florida have the next-highest overall death tolls, but their per-capita rates are less than half that of worst-hit states in the spring. In California, about one in every 2,600 residents have died, while about one in every 1,600 Floridians and one in every 1,900 Texans have perished from the virus.
After a summer surge, California has cut its hospitalizations and average daily cases by more than half. The state was on track to report fewer fatalities from the virus in September than in August, its deadliest month of the pandemic to date.
The 2,816 new cases reported Tuesday, according to data compiled by this news organization, kept the seven-day average at about 3,500 per day, where it has been for close to two weeks. While cases have stayed flat, the positivity rate has fallen by nearly a point in that time to 2.8%, the lowest it has ever been.
There was a slight uptick in hospital patients day-over-day, according to the California Department of Public Health, but the 2,632 active hospitalizations Monday were still 20% fewer than there were two weeks ago and nearly two-thirds fewer than of a peak 7,170 patients on July 21.
The number of patients requiring intensive care units fell below 800, to 799, for the first time on record, which dates back to April 1.
Both numbers are lower than where they were on May 28, when the U.S. record its 100,000th death, before California’s summer surge.
In the Bay Area, Alameda County fueled another day with a high death count. There were 23 fatalities reported in the region Tuesday — its fifth-highest single-day death toll — including 16 in Alameda County. Health officials there said last week they were backfilling unaccounted for coronavirus deaths and that the large number of recently reported deaths doesn’t represent a recent spike in the county.
Statewide, the 35 deaths in Los Angeles County were the most reported Tuesday, followed by 22 in Orange County, 16 in Alameda and 10 each in Sacramento and Riverside counties. Santa Clara County also reported two fatalities Tuesday, as well as one each in San Mateo, Contra Costa and Marin counties.
