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California’s seven-day daily average of new COVID-19 cases exploded to another record high on Thursday, and the state reported triple-digit deaths from the virus for the third day in a row.
On average, more than 16,700 cases per day have been reported in the state over the past week, after county health departments reported another 21,228 on Thursday, according to data compiled by that news agency. At around 16,768 per day, California is averaging more cases now than was reported any day before last week. On Thursday, the state counted at least 20,000 cases for the third time in the past two weeks; Thursday’s total was second only to the record 21,511 reported on Monday.
The death toll in California rose by at least 100 for the third day in a row, reaching a cumulative total of 19,589. The 146 new victims of the virus were the state’s largest in a single day since the end of the month September; more Californians have perished in the past week – a total of 556, an average of about 79 per day – than any other seven-day period since around the same time.
And, as Governor Gavin Newsom announced an impending home stay order based on the capacity of intensive care units, California hospital beds have reached their peak in the pandemic. A total of 8,831 COVID-positive patients are currently hospitalized in California, including 2,066 in ICUs, the two records.
In the past two weeks, active hospitalizations in California have increased by 95% and intensive care units have been filled by almost 80%. State registers 60% more new cases on average than two weeks ago; Thursday’s spike can be attributed to replacing the number of Thanksgiving holiday cases in the equation with a normal reporting day.
As cases and hospitalizations increase, deaths have followed. The average daily number of deaths has increased 33% in the past two weeks and has doubled since the second week of November.
Los Angeles County set another daily record, with more than 7,600 new cases, and led the state with 42 newly reported deaths. San Bernardino County recorded its third-highest number of daily cases of the pandemic, with nearly 2,500 on Thursday, and the 18 new deaths ranked second in the state. Riverside County followed with 13 new deaths, followed by Sacramento County with 12.
There have been 18 new deaths from the virus in the Bay Area, including a local record of nine deaths in Santa Clara County. Santa Cruz County added four to its toll, Alameda County added two, and Contra Costa, San Francisco and Marin counties each reported one death.
Santa Clara County reported its fourth-highest number of pandemic cases and led the region with 728 new cases; his daily average has increased 80% over the past two weeks. Alameda County reported its highest number of cases of the pandemic, with 650 on Thursday; the county’s daily average is also up about 80% from two weeks ago.
In total, the 2,581 new cases around the Bay Area was the second-highest one-day total of the pandemic in the region. For the first time, the region is recording an average of more than 2,000 cases per day, 65% more than two weeks ago.
The Bay Area region is furthest away from reaching the 15% threshold of intensive care unit capacity that will trigger the new stay-at-home order, announced by Newsom on Thursday, but is still on track for reach this threshold by mid-December. The rest of the state could see these new restrictions by next week.
Nationally, the United States has recorded its two highest daily death rates from the pandemic in the past two days, according to data collected by The New York Times. After reporting 2,885 new deaths on Wednesday, the United States followed with 2,857 on Thursday, according to data from The Times.
There is no sign of the outbreak slowing: The United States recorded its highest number of daily cases of the pandemic, with more than 216,000 as of Thursday, and averages more than 180,000 new infections a day. And more Americans are hospitalized with COVID-19 than any other point in the pandemic, with an active tally of more than 100,000, according to the COVID Tracking Project.
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