California surpasses New York as U.S. state with most COVID-19 deaths
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[February 10, 2021]
By Sharon Bernstein and Lisa Shumaker
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - California
surpassed New York on Tuesday as the U.S. state with the most
coronavirus deaths, a grim reminder of the pandemic's toll even as the
vaccine rollout and a sharp drop in new cases buoyed hopes of life
eventually returning to normal.
More than 45,000 people have died as of late Tuesday from COVID-19 in
California, the most populous of the 50 states and one of the hardest
hit in recent months. New York, severely stricken in the early stages of
pandemic last spring, has reported 44,693 lives lost, according to a
Reuters tally.
"This is a heart-wrenching reminder that COVID-19 is a deadly virus, and
we mourn alongside every Californian who has suffered the tragic loss of
a loved one during this pandemic,” Dr Mark Ghaly, the state's health
secretary, said of the milestone in an email to Reuters.
California, home to some 40 million people, emerged as a main U.S.
epicenter of the pandemic during a year-end surge of infections and
hospitalizations that swept much of the country, pushing many healthcare
systems to their limits.
When considered in terms of per capita deaths, California, with 113
deaths per 100,000 people, ranks 32nd in the nation in COVID-19
mortality. By comparison, New York, with 248 deaths per 100,000, ranks
second only to New Jersey, which has logged about 230 coronavirus deaths
per 100,000 residents.
Nationwide, the daily tallies of new cases and hospitalizations from
COVID-19 have been dropping steadily in recent weeks, while deaths, a
lagging indicator, have plateaued.
The United States as a whole has reported 27.25 million infections and
468,559 deaths, as of late Tuesday. Just over 79,000 U.S. patients were
hospitalized with COVID-19 on Tuesday, the lowest daily number since
mid-November.
But in California, as in other states, the improvement obscures a march
of illness, hospitalizations and deaths, which remain far higher than
they were at the pandemic's previous peak last summer.
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A person wears a personal protective garment while crossing the
street downtown during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease
(COVID-19), in Los Angeles, California, U.S., February 4, 2021.
REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
The number of lives lost reported daily in the state has declined
over the past several weeks, but remains "remarkably" high at an
average of 500 fatalities per day over the past 14 days, Governor
Gavin Newsom told a news conference.
"Deaths continue to be devastating," Newsom said, speaking at the
opening of a vaccination site at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara
County near San Francisco.
Public health experts fear that gatherings for Super Bowl
celebrations on Sunday, as well as the arrival of new, highly
contagious variants of the virus may lead to another surge in cases
before most Americans are vaccinated.
In an effort to speed up the immunization campaign being counted on
to halt the pandemic, President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced that
his administration planned to increase the number of vaccine doses
shipped to the states, beginning on Feb. 15.
Part of the expanded supply will be sent to community health centers
in an effort to improve vaccine access for the mostly poor and
minority populations those centers serve, the White House said on
Tuesday.
By Tuesday, about 33 million Americans had received at least one
dose of vaccine to fight the coronavirus, the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported.
"This vaccine is the weapon that will win this war," New York
Governor Andrew Cuomo said at a news briefing on Tuesday. Ten
percent of New York state residents have received the vaccine, he
said.
(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento, California and Lisa
Shumaker in Chicago; additional reporting by Anurag Maan and Roshan
Abraham in Bengaluru; Editing by Jonathan Oatis, Robert Birsel)
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