According to data collected by this news organization, as the second week of February ends, so does the second consecutive week of steady declines in all COVID-19 metrics in California. However, cases, hospitalizations and deaths remain at higher levels than at any time prior to this winter.
On Thursday, there were 10,401 new cases and 541 deaths from COVID-19 across California, both still significant but lower than the previous week, while their active hospitalizations fell on a network of 400 more patients, and the total number of patients treated in intensive care units fell below 3,000 for the first time in two months. Only 4.6% of tests have tested positive for COVID-19 over the past week, compared to a positivity rate of more than 14% last month during the pandemic peak.
With about 11,320 cases a day over the past week, the state averages a quarter of the infections it had this time last month, at the height of the outbreak, including a 50% drop in the last two weeks. However, deaths continue to reach a rate of about 414 a day over the past week, a drop of almost 25% from two weeks ago, but still three times higher than any point before the wave. winter.
Although deaths are declining, Californians continue to die in substantially higher amounts than any other state.
The overall death toll in the state, which recently surpassed New York for most of the country, topped 46,000 on Thursday. Over the past week, California has recorded nearly 1,000 more victims of COVID-19 than the next nearest state, Texas, according to the New York Times. Of the six states that recorded at least 100 fatalities a day over the past week, only Arizona has recorded them at a higher per capita rate.
Although California tops the list of total lives lost by the virus, 30 states have lost a larger proportion of their population. Even Los Angeles County, home to 10 million people and one of the hardest-hit places in California, would be below the 10 states in per capita lives lost, although it has an overall death toll of more than seven. ‘them and any other county. in the nation.
On Thursday, Los Angeles County and the rest of Southern California continued to account for a large proportion of fatalities statewide, but 33 of its 58 counties added to the death toll.
The bay area was joined by 67 across the region, led by 30 in Santa Clara County, 15 in Contra Costa County and 13 in Alameda County.
The proportion of approximately 69% of fatalities in the southern state of California was lower than its overall share throughout the pandemic, but remained well above its population share. The region accounted for the four largest deaths in the county and seven out of 13 with double-digit fatalities: 158 in Los Angeles County, 59 in San Bernardino County, 51 in San Diego County, 42 in San Diego County Orange, 23 in Riverside County, 18 in Ventura County and 10 in Imperial County.
Now, however, Southern California counties no longer populate almost exclusively the state’s list of highest infection rates.
A month removed from a state rate of more than 100, only three California counties have recorded a daily average per capita of at least 50 cases per 100,000 residents over the past week. The three are sparsely populated and have been combined for less than 25 cases a day over the past week. Across the state, there were fewer than 30 cases per day for every 100,000 residents last week for the first time since Thanksgiving, an infection rate lower than 21 other states, according to the Times .
Ventura, Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles remain in the top ten, but with respective daily infection rates over the past week of 43, 35, and 34 cases per 100,000 residents.
Now, more counties in the San Joaquin Valley populate the top ten states: Kern, Kings, Stanislaus, and Merced counties, with infection rates ranging from 39 to 45 cases per 100,000 residents.
In the wider bay area, no county has reported more than 30 daily cases per 100,000 residents over the past week and all five of its top counties recorded infection rates between 16 and 21 per 100,000.