One in four adults have received at least one vaccine dose

New coronavirus cases in California keep declining while the total number of vaccinated residents in the state continues to rise, positive signs that a massive winter surge that sent cases and deaths in the state skyrocketing is coming to an end.

On Friday, California counties reported 3,652 new COVID-19 cases, according to data tracked by this news organization. The state now has a seven-day average of 3,677 new cases, the lowest the average has been since Oct. 22, before the surge sent average case rates as high as 45,388 on Dec. 22. There have been 3,594,282 cases in California since the start of the pandemic, although that does not include cases where an individual was infected but never tested for the virus.

Los Angeles County, the largest and hardesthit in the state, reported 889 cases Friday, San Diego County reported 362 and Kern County reported 199. They were followed by Riverside, Sacramento and Orange counties.

Vaccinations, meanwhile, continue to increase. So far, 11,169,839 doses have been administered in the state, out of 15,384,710 doses that have been delivered to California, according to the state’s Department of Public Health, and 25.2 percent of Californians 18 and older have received at least one vaccine dose while 11.8 percent have been fully vaccinated, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Although cases have returned to presurge levels, deaths remain high — death rates usually lag behind cases. On Friday, counties reported 325 deaths in the state, for a seven-day average of 228 daily deaths: That’s the lowest average since Dec.

30. The state has recorded 55,467 deaths from the virus.

Los Angeles County reported the most deaths Friday with 100 fatalities, then San Bernardino County with 57 and Riverside County with 30. They were followed by Orange, Santa Clara and Kern counties.

Also improving the past several weeks have been the number of patients hospitalized or in intensive care unit beds with confirmed COVID-19 cases. On Thursday, there were 3,335 patients hospitalized with the virus in the state, a 4.1 percent decline from the preceding day and the lowest number of hospitalized patients since Nov.

9. The number of patients in ICU beds ticked up by 0.5 percent on Thursday to 966 patients, although that is still the fewest patients since Nov. 13.

In the Bay Area, Santa Clara County reported the most new cases Friday, with 145 infections and 22 deaths for a total of 112,470 cases and 1,858 deaths since the start of the pandemic. Alameda County reported 119 cases and three deaths for a total of 81,866 cases and 1,327 deaths. Contra Costa County reported 118 cases and no new deaths for a total of 63,860 cases and 716 deaths.

San Mateo County reported 59 cases and six deaths for a total of 39,349 cases and 534 deaths. And San Francisco reported 32 cases and five deaths for a total of 34,495 cases and 445 deaths during the pandemic.