The number of people in California who have confirmed cases of COVID-19 rose Wednesday to 119,721.
The state also recorded 70 new deaths, bringing the death toll to 4,384, according to data compiled by this news organization.
The state recorded 2,377 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday. On Monday, the state set a record for new daily cases — 3,131, marking the second time in a week that California reported more than 3,000 positive new cases.
The seven-day average of new cases has continued to rise over the past month. On Wednesday, that average was 2,568; a month ago, the seven-day average was 1,607 new cases.
Across the 10 Bay Area counties, there were 160 new cases Wednesday, bringing the total number of cases in the the Bay Area to 14,724, the data shows.
The seven-day average of new cases in the Bay Area stood at 210 Wednesday, an increase from 159 a month ago.
The Bay Area also recorded two new deaths Wednesday — one each in Alameda and Santa Clara counties. Since the start of the pandemic, 454 people have died in the region.
More than 58,234 of the state’s total cases, or about 48%, have occurred in Los Angeles County. In an even grimmer indicator that Los Angeles is the epicenter of the state’s outbreak, more than 2,489 deaths, or 56% of the state’s total, have occurred in that county.
The growth in the number of new cases could be due in part to the growing number of people who have been tested. Since the start of the pandemic, the state has performed more than 1.6 million tests, including 38,535 tests reported Wednesday.
As the state has seen an increased number of tests, it also has managed to see a steady decline in the number of people hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 over the past two months, the data shows. The state recorded an all-time high of 5,792 people hospitalized on April 7. That number was down to 4,393 people on Monday.
