As U.S. cases spike, California COVID-19 rates decline

SACRAMENTO — New coronavirus infections and fatalities have been spiking worldwide and across the United States, but COVID-19 activity has stayed comparatively low in California, where most key figures are either slowly declining or plateauing.

Statewide rates of new infections and deaths are the lowest they’ve been in more than three months. Over the past two weeks, California averaged 69.8 deaths and 3,162 new cases per day, according to data updated Sunday by the state health department. Daily deaths hadn’t been below 70 since July 8, and infections are at their lowest point since June 19, the last day of spring.

There are almost 5,000 fewer COVID-19 patients in California hospitals now than during the state’s peak over the summer. The total has trimmed down to just over 2,200, from a high of 7,170 on July 21, according to the California Department of Public Health. Only 612 coronavirus patients were in intensive care as of Sunday, CDPH said, compared to a peak of

over 2,000.

And in the past two weeks, 2.6% of all diagnostic tests performed for the coronavirus have returned positive, down from a summer high of 7.5%, further reflecting slower spread of the highly contagious respiratory disease.

The state of 40 million people accounts for a little over 16,500 of the nation’s nearly 215,000 total reported virus deaths, and just under 850,000 of its 7.7 million lab-confirmed cases through Monday morning, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Texas recently overtook California as No. 2 in death toll, closing in on 17,000 despite having roughly 75% as many residents. Florida just surpassed 15,000 deaths despite having a little over half California’s population. All three remain below the 33,000 fatalities suffered in New York state, a spring epicenter for the pandemic.

More than 50,000 new cases a day were reported across the U.S. for four straight days, Wednesday through Saturday, after that mark had been surpassed just three times between Aug. 15 and the start of last week, Johns Hopkins data show.

Last Friday set a worldwide record for daily new cases, with more than 350,000 reported globally, the World Health Organization said.

Tuesday will mark six weeks since California began its second attempt at gradual economic reopening, this time using a tiered framework to further slow the process.

The previous effort to reopen, in late spring, lasted roughly six weeks. Businesses, places of worship and other activities started to open in mid-May, before Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state hit pause in late June, then reversed course in early July due to surging hospitalization and infection rates statewide.