California Surpasses New York As US State With Highest Number Of COVID-19 Cases

California, which was initially lauded for the way it limited the coronavirus pandemic for spreading, has been observing a rise in the number of cases. On July 21, it recorded the highest number of new coronavirus cases in a single day, thus surpassing New York as the U.S. state with the most confirmed COVID-19 infections since the pandemic began.

Initially, California had been successful in slowing down the spread of the virus as it employed social distancing early on, in March, shutting down everything except essential businesses. As the number of cases dipped, California started reopening its economy in May and June, which also included people indoor dining in restaurants and shopping in stores.

This has lead to a sharp increase in the COVID-19 infection rates in the last few weeks, following which the restrictions were imposed once again, including the shut down of businesses, restaurants, and bars as well as bans on indoor worship services and in-person instruction at schools. But despite the restrictions put in place by Governor Gavin Newsom, the number cases have been increasing, with the state recording 12,807 confirmed cases on July 21, the highest tally in a single day.

It brought California’s total to more than 413,576 cases, which is more than the number of cases currently in New York, earlier the epicentre of the pandemic in the U.S.

“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,” said Barbara Ferrer, the Los Angeles County public health director.

During his press conference on July 22, Newsom implored Californians to continue wearing face masks and promised to make more personal protective equipment available to frontline workers to protect them.

“We are a state, again, the size of 21 states combined, so it’s not surprising now in some respects as we begin to reopen key sectors of our economy ... that our numbers would start to go up,” Newsom said. “[It’s] a sober reminder of why we are taking things as seriously as we are.”