Coronavirus updates: 600 have died in California’s capital region, 1.1 million worldwide

Though coronavirus activity in California has compared favorably to other parts of the U.S. for weeks, the state’s death toll from the virus continues to climb and is on track to reach 17,000 within the next few days.

The official count, as of a Friday morning update from the state health department, was 16,830 California residents dead from COVID-19 over the course of the seven-month pandemic.

The state is now averaging 60 daily deaths over the past two weeks. That rate has declined steadily from a peak of 142 a day in mid-August, correlating with a lag time of a few weeks behind statewide drops in all other COVID-19 metrics.

With the U.S. closing in on 8 million total lab-confirmed cases of the disease and 218,000 deaths as of Friday morning, California ranks third in total deaths behind New York (about 33,300) and Texas (17,300), and it has reported the most infections of any state at nearly 870,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

But with its population of about 40 million people, California’s reported deaths and infections per 100,000 residents are lower than those of about half the states in the nation, Johns Hopkins data show.

California’s daily death figures have fluctuated this week. The California Department of Public Health added eight Monday followed by nine Tuesday, representing the first time since late March that the reported death toll grew by single digits on back-to-back days. The state then reported 58 fatalities Wednesday, 118 Thursday for the most in a day since Sept. 29 and 73 more Friday.

Other figures, including new infections, test rate positivity, and the total numbers of positive cases in hospitals and intensive care units, have been on either a plateau or slow decline for about the past three weeks.

Of particular note, California’s reported total on Thursday of exactly 600 COVID-19 patients in ICUs marked the lowest point for that metric since March 29; it increased by 2.5% Friday to 615, which is still lower than the late March total. Ample ICU capacity was one major point of emphasis for the state in the early weeks of the pandemic; the state peaked at over 2,000 patients in intensive care in late July.

Capital region records 600th death

The six-county capital area made up of Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer, Yolo, Sutter and Yuba counties has combined for over 35,000 lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 600 virus deaths to date.

Sacramento County surpassed 24,000 total cases Wednesday morning, according to county health officials. The county has recorded a total of 24,192 cases and 468 resident deaths from the virus, reporting 90 new infections Friday morning.

The county has now confirmed 106 deaths occurring in September, and 13 through the first 12 days of October, though data is less complete for the current month. At least 179 Sacramento County residents died of COVID-19 in August.

At least 191 of Sacramento County’s deaths, 41% of the total, have come at “congregate care” facilities -- which include skilled nursing, assisted living and other treatment facilities as well as Folsom State Prison, where state corrections officials now say two inmates have died.

There were 79 patients in Sacramento County hospitals, including 18 in intensive care units with confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of Friday, respective increases of four and three from the previous day’s update. The county maintains 82 available ICU beds.

The local health office now estimates 22,304 cases are “likely recovered,” meaning there are roughly 1,420 confirmed, active infections among county residents. That figure ranged between 3,000 and 3,600 during the summer peak. It has been dropping steadily in recent weeks as the pace of new cases trails behind recoveries.

Sacramento County remains in the red tier.

Yolo County has reported 3,015 infections and 56 deaths, last updated Thursday afternoon.

County officials noted Wednesday the recently confirmed outbreak at Alderson Convalescent Hospital, which on its website says it has 27 active cases in residents and five positive staff members. The skilled nursing facility has 140 beds.

Yolo shot from one hospitalized case in an ICU on Thursday to five hospitalized and three in ICUs on Friday, according to state date.

Yolo County also remains in the red tier.

Placer County has reported 3,880 total infections and 52 deaths, adding one fatality and 19 new cases Thursday and 16 more cases Friday.

The county says on its local dashboard that it has eight patients in hospital beds being treated specifically for COVID-19, with three confirmed cases now in ICUs.

Placer improved to the orange tier on Tuesday.

El Dorado County health officials have reported a total of 1,271 cases, reporting eight new infections Thursday after adding two each on Tuesday and Wednesday. Four residents have died: one in July, one in August and two in September.

El Dorado had no hospitalized patients as of Thursday and Friday. One patient was in the ICU as of Wednesday’s update from the state.

El Dorado, which had been at risk of demotion, improved its metrics to retain orange-tier status this week.

Sutter County has reported 1,793 coronavirus infections and 12 deaths, according to data updated Thursday afternoon. Sutter reported no daily new cases Wednesday, then had eight Thursday. Three people are hospitalized in Sutter with one in intensive care, the county says.

Yuba County officials have reported 1,246 infections and 10 deaths from the disease through Thursday. Four Yuba patients are hospitalized, down by two since Tuesday, with none currently in intensive care, the county reports.

Both Sutter and Yuba, which share a bi-county health office, are now in the red tier together.

World numbers: Death toll reaches 1.1 million; new daily case record

Global coronavirus totals are reaching more milestones, after Thursday set a single-day record for new lab-confirmed cases, according to Johns Hopkins data: Over 406,000 people tested positive, breaking the mark of nearly 381,000 that had been set just one day earlier. Over 39 million cases have been confirmed worldwide.

Johns Hopkins data showed the worldwide COVID-19 death toll tick past 1.1 million Friday morning.

The U.S. still leads the world, with more than 218,000 reported fatalities, followed by Brazil at nearly 152,500, India at over 112,000 and Mexico at more than 85,000.

After those four are the United Kingdom at over 43,000 dead, Italy at more than 36,000, Peru and Spain each at 33,500, and France at a little over 31,000. Iran is closing in on 30,000 dead. Colombia, Argentina and Russia each report between 23,000 and 29,000 dead.

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