California has overtaken New York by the largest number of coronavirus cases in the United States.
The most populous US state recorded 413,579 cases on Wednesday after adding a record 12,807 spikes in new daily infections to its account.
The state now has 5,000 more cases than New York, the original epicenter of the nation’s outbreak.
New York currently has 408,181 total infections statewide.
If California were a country, it would rank fifth in the world for total COVID-19 cases behind only the United States, Brazil, India, and Russia.
Meanwhile, New York’s 32,520 deaths remain by far the highest total in the country and four times more than the 7,870 figure in California.
CALIFORNIA: The most populous US state recorded 413,579 cases as of Wednesday after adding a record 12,807 spikes in new daily infections to its account.
California is by far the most populous state in the US, with nearly 40 million people, while New York has around 19.5 million.
Since its large number of cases earlier this year, New York State has controlled the virus.
California, however, initially managed to reduce the spread of the virus, but has had a sharp reversal with COVID-19 infection rates that have increased sharply in recent weeks.
California residents beginning in March were urged to stay home as much as possible, and state health orders closed all businesses except essentials like supermarkets.
Throughout May and June, California reopened much of its economy, and people resumed shopping at stores and dined at restaurants.
The extent of the reopening was evident in data showing California’s unemployment rate fell in June when the state added a record 558,000 jobs.
But infections began to rise and a new round of trade restrictions was imposed, including a ban on indoor eating in restaurants and bars.
California Governor Gavin Newsom last week withdrew some of his reopening plans for the state by announcing the closure of some closed places that draw crowds like bars, restaurants, movie theaters, zoos and museums.
New York, the original epicenter of the US outbreak, currently has 408,181 total infections statewide
Meanwhile, New York’s 32,520 deaths remain by far the highest total in the country and four times more than the 7,870 figure in California.
It also ordered the closure of gyms, churches and beauty salons in the state’s 30 most affected counties.
Los Angeles County, the nation’s most populous with 10 million residents, reported that younger people were driving the spread of new infections.
More than half of the county’s new cases come from people under the age of 41 and the county’s COVID-19 deaths were 4,154 with positive cases exceeding 161,670, the county Department of Public Health said.
“The tragedy of what we are witnessing is that many of our younger residents interact with each other and do not adhere to recommended prevention measures, while our older residents continue to experience the results of this further spread with the worst health outcomes, including death, ” said director of public health Barbara Ferrer.
US government data released Tuesday found that reported and confirmed coronavirus cases vastly underestimate the true number of infections, echoing the results of a smaller study last month.
The United States has also had consistent test failures that experts say contribute to a low count of the actual virus rate.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study said actual COVID-19 rates were more than 10 times higher than reported cases in most regions of the US from late March to early of May.
It is based on COVID-19 antibody tests performed on routine blood samples in 16,000 people in 10 regions of the U.S.
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