California’s coronavirus-related death toll surpassed that of New York’s over the last day to become the highest in the nation. The state added 487 new deaths to reach 45,496 total fatalities this week, and has a testing positivity rate of 7.51%, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
New York’s testing positivity rate is 4.39%, and the state has recorded 45,312 coronavirus-related deaths. Texas is listed third with 40,148 fatalities but has a state positivity rate of 13.67%.
California’s grim milestone comes as the state has seen a slight improvement in ICU capacity, with 87% of beds occupied this week compared to 90% two weeks ago. The state is also seeing downward trends in new daily cases.
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After a slow start to the vaccine rollout, the state has ramped up efforts and seen over 5 million of the 7.6 million doses delivered administered. California is currently vaccinating people in Phase 1A and Phase 1B tiers, which includes teachers, emergency services employees, food and agricultural workers and people over 65.
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A new mass vaccination site was announced by Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this week that will be set up in central California. The new site follows two others that have been set up at Oakland-Alameda Coliseum and California State University, Los Angeles.
