California now has the most confirmed coronavirus infections of any state, surpassing New York, as an ongoing statewide spike in the number of infections has pushed its case count past 409,000.
As of Wednesday morning, data from Johns Hopkins University showed California had about 1,100 more COVID-19 cases than New York — which was besieged by the coronavirus in the early spring but saw the numbers of newly confirmed infections, deaths and hospitalizations drop dramatically.
California, however, is trending in the opposite direction.
The state reported its highest number of virus cases in a single day — 11,554 — on Monday, according to data from The Times’ coronavirus tracker. The previous record — 11,142 — was set just last week.
Despite the higher case count, California has not experienced nearly as many fatalities as New York has.
The Empire State has recorded more than 25,000 COVID-19 deaths, three times as many as California.
The fact that California is by far the most populous state accounts, in part, for the high number of infections. The state’s population of nearly 40 million is more than double that of New York.
“I don’t myself over-read into the significance of that number,” California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said Tuesday when asked about California being poised to overtake New York as the state with the most confirmed cases — pointing to both the state’s population and its geographical size.
“I look at every day as an opportunity to do more and do better with our response to COVID-19, and at the end, I really expect and hope that California is going to be the state that adapted the most, learned the most, prepared the best and that we are going to really reduce its impact.”
Officials, however, have expressed alarm at how California is trending — and not just because of its overall case count.
Coronavirus-related hospitalizations have reached record-breaking levels in the state. More than 7,000 confirmed COVID-19 patients were hospitalized statewide as of Monday, and more than 2,000 were in intensive care, according to the state Department of Public Health.
California is also reporting worsening death tolls. For the weeklong period that ended Monday, 674 deaths were reported in California, the highest weekly total to date. That number broke the record set in the previous seven-day period, when 640 died; the week before that, it was 474.
Experts say hospitalizations and deaths are lagging indicators of the coronavirus spread and can reflect exposure to the virus that occurred weeks earlier.
That, officials say, is one of the key challenges in the fight against COVID-19: It can take weeks to see whether the steps taken to stem the spread of the disease are working.
Conversely, it can also take weeks to see the repercussions of residents and business owners not taking the necessary steps to protect themselves — which officials say include keeping your distance from people you do not live with, regularly washing and sanitizing your hands, and wearing a face covering in public, particularly when physical distancing isn’t possible.
California has taken significant steps aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19 in recent weeks — including the issuance of a statewide mask order on June 18 and renewed restrictions on numerous sectors last week.
It’s not yet known how long those measures will need to be in place. According to Ghaly, “we may take up to three, four, even five weeks to feel the full impact of some of those changes.”
“I wish I had that crystal ball that said, ‘This is when we’re going to be ready,’ but we’re going to continue to communicate the sort of story from on the ground, understanding how it affects the whole state, so that we don’t do anything too soon,” he said. “But, we’re also mindful of the impact of doing things too late, and trying to strike that delicate balance is what we’re going to continue to do.”
Health officials have said the surge in coronavirus infections is being fueled by younger Californians. Roughly 69% of the state’s total confirmed cases have been among those 49 and younger, according to the latest available data.
That trend holds true in Los Angeles County, which remains the hotbed of California’s coronavirus outbreak.
Of the new cases the county Department of Public Health reported Tuesday, 57% were residents under the age of 41.
Although it’s true that younger groups are, on the whole, less likely to fall severely ill as a result of COVID-19, officials stress that that does not mean they are immune — or that they can’t potentially spread the disease to others who are more at risk.
“The tragedy of what we are witnessing is that many of our younger residents are interacting with each other and not adhering to the recommended prevention measures, while our older residents continue to experience the results of this increased spread with the worst health outcomes, including death,” county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said in a statement.
“People over the age of 65 years old account for 11% of all cases but account for nearly 75% of all deaths. Our behaviors, including the wearing of face coverings and the adherence of physical distancing — simple actions of kindness and caring — can protect those we love.”
Times staff writers Rong-Gong Lin II, Iris Lee, Colleen Shalby and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
