California on Thursday surpassed 25,000 coronavirus deaths since the start of the pandemic, the third state in the country to surpass the mark, after New York and Texas health officials said.
The announcement comes at a time when the nation’s most populous state is seeing an increase in coronavirus infections that it has in hospitals on the verge of its capacity and that has forced doctors and nurses to treat more patients. ‘usual. California also confirmed the second reported case 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 have the majority of the state’s 40 million people, have run out of capacity in its intensive care units to care for patients with COVID-19.
California was the third state to reach 25,000 deaths. New York has nearly 38,000 and Texas more than 27,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University count.
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California reported its first case of coronavirus in late January. It recorded its 10,000 deaths 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, the county’s health director. The most populous county in the country has had 40% of deaths from the virus in California.
Most of the state is under extended restrictions that have closed businesses or reduced their capacity, and people are being called to stay home as long as possible to try to curb the spread of viruses.
Authorities warned that they will patrol the streets to prevent massive New Year’s celebrations that could spread the coronavirus.
Meanwhile, California became the second country in the country to report a case of a new, apparently more contagious virus variant that was initially confirmed in Britain.
The patient, who developed symptoms on Dec. 27, is a 30-year-old man from San Diego County who has no travel history, which could indicate that another person brought the variant to the state, they said. tell the authorities.