One day after reaching an all-time high of 197 coronavirus-related deaths, California’s pandemic accounted for another 194 new deaths on Thursday. So far, COVID-19 has taken in 8,909 lives statewide.
Deaths have dramatically increased from the near-flat levels in June. As of Thursday, the 14-day daily average of deaths attributed to coronavirus was 112. Two weeks ago, that daily average was about 83.
The spike began in earnest last week, with a then-record 157 deaths on Thursday topped by 159 deaths recorded last Friday.
Over the weekend and early in the week, those numbers dipped as state officials announced new reporting protocols had created a backlog of results. The recent skyrocketing numbers are, no doubt, at least in part due to that backlog. But the fact that they have resumed on a march to new highs does not bode well.
The state’s daily new coronavirus case count jumped to 10,197 on Thursday, up from 8,755 on Wednesday. That’s well above the 14-day average of 9,191 daily new cases but below the all-time high of 12,807 new cases, set last week.
California now has 485,502 confirmed cases of COVID-19.