SACRAMENTO — California has become the first state in the country to record more than five million known COVID-19 infections, according to data from the state's Department of Public Health.
The state reported the numbers Tuesday, saying it's not an entirely unexpected number in a state with 40 million residents.
Data shared by the California Department of Public Health on Dec. 28, 2021.California Department of Public Health
To date, more than 5.1 million cases of COVID-19 have been documented in California — not far ahead of Texas with its 4.5 million cases and Florida with its 3.9 million, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. California's daily average cases are currently coming in at 8,686 cases per day.
To date, more than 75,000 Californians have lost their lives to the virus and just over 64 million have been vaccinated. Nearly 5,000 people in the state are currently hospitalized with the virus.
The first COVID-19 case in the state was reported Jan. 25, 2020, according to Newsweek. The news outlet reported that 292 days after the first case, the state had reached one million cases.
State health officials continue to urge all Californians to get vaccinated, which is the only scientifically-proven way to avoid getting seriously ill as a result of the virus.
"Vaccines prevent serious illness, save lives and reduce further spread of COVID-19," state health officials said in the database.
"From [Thanksgiving] to Dec. 1, unvaccinated people were 11.7 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 than fully vaccinated people."
Locally, the coronavirus positivity rate is spiking in Los Angeles County, as health officials report 15% of COVID-19 tests are coming back positive for the virus.
