California Coronavirus Death Toll Surpasses 15,000

CALIFORNIA — Just as California hit a record low for new COVID-19 cases last week, the state surpassed the 15,000 mark of coronavirus deaths Sunday. The news comes after a tough week for the Golden State, amid a catastrophic fire season and a 4.5 magnitude earthquake that rattled the Southland Saturday.

California has more than 785,000 cases, more than any other state in the country. But over the last few weeks just 3.6 percent of tests in California were positive, showing the lowest rate since late March. Nearly a month ago, the positive test rate was almost twice as high.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said in August that California was finally "turning the corner." And although the state's death toll is astonishing, it's lower than New York's 33,000 deaths.

Numbers have been declining steadily since the state saw a widespread surge in cases in mid-summer and over holiday weekends. The sharp decline in cases has allowed some counties to expand outdoor services and reopen more businesses, with some counties moving off of the state's dreaded widespread purple tier.

Since it usually takes around two weeks to determine whether a rapid rate of infection has resulted from a certain date, officials are still unsure whether the state came out unscathed from Labor Day weekend.

Los Angeles County reported 991 new cases of COVID- 19 and 23 more deaths Sunday, bringing the county's totals to 260,797 cases and 6,353 fatalities.

"As we prepare for the fall, we must acknowledge that COVID-19 remains a significant threat," Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said. "The difference between now and the early months of the pandemic, is that we have a much better idea of how to effectively protect each other from becoming infected."

San Diego County health officials reported 284 new COVID-19 infections and no new deaths Sunday, raising the region's totals to 44,577 cases with the death toll remaining at 760.

The county, which was in "orange" tier, was edging toward moving back into the purple tier, the most restrictive, after a surge in cases likely linked to San Diego State University caused some controversy.

The county's Board of Supervisors met to discuss possibly suing the state Thursday after Newsom rejected a county effort Wednesday to discount more than 700 new cases from SDSU students. San Diego will find out Tuesday whether it will slip back into the purple tier.

The San Francisco Bay Area surpassed 100,274 COVID-19 cases Saturday evening and saw 1,411 deaths from nine Bay Area counties, including Santa Cruz, ABC7 reported.

Mayor London Breed announced the timeline and steps to reopening indoor dining in San Francisco Friday. The city will begin seating patrons up to 25 percent capacity and up to 100 people in an establishment once the county is classified as "orange" on the state's COVID-19 blueprint. The county was expected to enter its new tier by October.

“Restaurants have been hit hard by COVID-19. Many have adapted with takeout and outdoor dining, but they’ve still been barely hanging on and, sadly, some have closed for good,” Breed said Friday. “We are laying out the next steps to make sure restaurants are ready to reopen as safely as possible.”