California became the first state in the nation on Thursday to surpass 2 million cases of the novel coronavirus, according to estimates from Johns Hopkins University. …
California became the first state in the nation on Thursday to surpass 2 million cases of the novel coronavirus, according to estimates from Johns Hopkins University. Estimates from the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center show the state has recorded 2,002,494 cases of COVID-19. Nearly 24,000 people in the state have died from the virus and the state has a 6.45% testing positivity rate, according to the estimates. The grim milestone comes as many hospitals in California are at or on the brink of capacity. Earlier this week, Gov. Gavin Newsom warned that COVID-19 hospitalizations in the state could reach 100,000 by January. In a joint press conference on Tuesday, officials with some of the state’s larger hospital systems, including Kaiser Permanente, Sutter Health and Dignity Health, as well as officials with California Health and Human Services Agency, and others, pleaded with Californians to continue to take precautions against COVID-19 amid the surge. “As hospital bed count continues to dwindle, we will not be able to keep up if [coronavirus cases, hopsitalizations] continue to increase,” said Greg Adams, the chairman and CEO of Kaiser Permanente, during his opening remarks.
