Calif. COVID-19 death toll tops 15,000; Wis. marks 100,000 cases

California’s death count from the coronavirus has surpassed 15,000 even as the state sees widespread improvement in infection levels.

A tally by Johns Hopkins University put California’s death toll at 15,027 on Sunday, the fourthhighest in the country. New York has suffered by far the most deaths — 33,087 — followed by New Jersey, which has about half as many. Texas is third.

California has had the most confirmed virus cases in the country with about 775,000, but key indicators have fallen dramatically since a spike that started after Memorial Day weekend prompted statewide shutdowns of businesses.

The state’s infection rate has fallen to 3% in the last week, the lowest level since the first days of the pandemic.

Nebraska nursing home virus toll relatively low

More than 40% of the deaths linked to the coronavirus in Nebraska have been at nursing homes, but the overall rate of deaths in the state’s nursing homes has remained relatively low compared with national figures.

A total of 185 deaths linked to the virus have been confirmed at nursing homes in the state, which is reporting 442 deaths overall. The Omaha World-Herald reported Sunday that a federal database shows that 31 of the more than 200 nursing homes in the state have reported deaths linked to the coronavirus. Nationally, nursing home residents account for less than 1% of the U.S. population but more than 40% of the coronavirus deaths.

100,000 Wisconsin cases

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services said more than 100,000 people in the state have tested positive for the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.

Officials on Sunday confirmed 1,665 positive tests in the last day, for a total of 101,227 cases. One new death was reported, for a total of 1,242 fatalities due to complications from COVID-19.

Of the 8,320 test results processed in the last day, 20% were positive. The positivity rate on Saturday was more than 18%.

Wisconsin ranks seventh in the country for new cases per capita in the last two weeks, according to The COVID Tracking Project.

Dog left by jobless homeowner

Animal control officials in the Indianapolis area are seeking a new home for an abandoned dog whose owner left a letter saying he lost his job and was about to lose his home due to COVID-19.

The dog was found tied to a tree with a note attached to the collar, according to WTHR-TV.

“I was a spoiled girl, my dad gave me my own couch to lay on and my own memory foam bed,” the note said. “My dad lost his job and soon his home from COVID.”