The coronavirus-related death toll in California surpassed New York’s last day, becoming the nation’s highest. The state added 487 new deaths to reach 45,496 total fatalities this week, and has a test positivity rate of 7.51%, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The test positivity rate in New York is 4.39% and the state has recorded 45,312 deaths from coronavirus. Texas ranks third with 40,148 fatalities, but has a positivity rate of 13.67%.
The stark California milestone comes now that 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 everyday cases.
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After a slow start to the introduction of the vaccine, the state has stepped up efforts and we are seeing more than 5 million of the 7.6 million doses administered. California is currently vaccinating people at Stage 1A and Stage 1B levels, including teachers, emergency services workers, food and agricultural workers, and people over the age of 65.
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Gavin Newsom announced a new mass vaccination site earlier this week, set to be set up in central California. The new site succeeds two others set up in Oakland-Alameda Coliseum and California State University, Los Angeles.