California hits record COVID-19 deaths as new variant found in San Diego
LOS ANGELES (KYMA, KECY, AP) — Los Angeles County surpassed 10,000 deaths from the coronavirus Wednesday as California also hit a record high number of fatalities.
The governor also announced the first detected case of the new and apparently more contagious variant of the coronavirus in a San Diego man.
LA County Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer called the 10,056 deaths there a “terrible milestone.” She noted that more than 7,400 people remain hospitalized with coronavirus in the county, with 20% of them in intensive care units.
“Most heartbreaking is that if we had done a better job of reducing transmission of the virus, many of these deaths would not have happened,” Ferrer said.
The milestone came the same day Gov. Gavin Newsom announced an “unprecedented” high of 432 reported deaths, a figure that was likely elevated due to a lag in reporting over the holidays. He said during a briefing with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, that he had just learned that the new strain of the virus had been detected, the second reported case in the nation.
