California reported 764 deaths from COVID-19 on Thursday, another record for deaths in a single day.
The deaths reported by the California Department of Public Health top the previous record of 708, set just two weeks ago on January 8.
However, hospitalizations and new cases are falling and health officials are growing more optimistic that the worst of the surge is over. More than 23,000 cases were recorded on Thursday, less than half of the peak seen in mid-December.
An increase in deaths with lag several weeks behind a surge in new cases and hospitalizations, and the death rate is the last data point to show improvement when a surge begins to slow.
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