Monterey County's COVID cases fall 81.1%; California cases plummet 55.5%
California reported far fewer coronavirus cases in the week ending Sunday, adding 15,344 new cases. That's down 55.5% from the previous week's tally of 34,518 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.
California ranked 48th among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States decreased 24.9% from the week before, with 490,656 cases reported. With 11.87% of the country's population, California had 3.13% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, three states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.
Thanksgiving significantly disrupted who got tested, how many people got tested, what labs operated and what government agencies reported on time. Some governments reported only three days of data for the last week; some reported none. Before Thanksgiving, several dozen dozen states were reported rising case counts; in the week ending Sunday, only several states reported rising cases. The United States had been reporting nearly 700,000 new cases per week; in the week ending Sunday, that number was less than 500,000. With the week of Thanksgiving so artificially low, week-to-week comparisons will be skewed. Conversely, next week will appear artificially high and the rate of change in cases and deaths will be skewed the other way. These numbers are unreliable even as they're accurate to what states reported.
Monterey County reported 43 cases and 16 deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 228 cases and zero deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 52,340 cases and 625 deaths.
Across California, cases fell in 56 counties, with the best declines in Los Angeles County, with 5,705 cases from 8,457 a week earlier; in San Bernardino County, with 423 cases from 2,611; and in Riverside County, with 510 cases from 2,621.
>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases
California ranked 10th among states in share of people receiving at least one shot, with 77.2% of its residents at least partially vaccinated. The national rate is 68.8%, a USA TODAY analysis of CDC data shows. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are the most used in the United States, require two doses administered a few weeks apart.
In the week ending Thursday, California reported administering another 1,691,499 vaccine doses, including 603,727 first doses. In the previous week, the state administered 1,005,067 vaccine doses, including 295,109 first doses. In all, California reported it has administered 57,552,889 total doses.
Within California, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Stanislaus County with 259 cases per 100,000 per week; Kern County with 118; and Lassen County with 95. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.
Adding the most new cases overall were Los Angeles County, with 5,705 cases; San Diego County, with 2,487 cases; and Stanislaus County, with 1,424.
In California, 428 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 620 people were reported dead.
A total of 5,061,240 people in California have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 74,159 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 48,229,210 people have tested positive and 776,639 people have died.
>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States
California's COVID-19 hospital admissions falling
USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Nov. 28.
Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:
Last week: 4,942
The week before that: 5,086
Four weeks ago: 5,488
Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:
Last week: 76,702
The week before that: 75,061
Four weeks ago: 69,423
Hospitals in 25 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 25 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 27 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.
The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Salinas Californian: Monterey County COVID cases increased by 43 and deaths by 16 this week
