California reports lowest COVID-19 case rate in the country

Authored by cbsnews.com and submitted by Illustrious_Welder94

California, which at one point was the country's epicenter of COVID-19, is now the state reporting the lowest positivity rate per 100,000 people, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. As of Saturday evening, 24.99 new confirmed cases were reported for every 100,000 people in California, Johns Hopkins University data found.

The state reported a daily average of 8,172 new cases over the past eight weeks, and averaged 92 deaths due to COVID-19 complications per day during that same time period, according to the California Department of Health. As of Saturday, more than 77% of California's population is vaccinated, according to the state's Health Department.

NEW: Over 70% of Californians are vaccinated with at least one dose. We now have the lowest COVID case rate in the nation. Vaccines are how we end this pandemic. — Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) September 18, 2021

On Wednesday, California was one of three states to decrease from a high virus community transmission level to substantial, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, as of Saturday, California's transmission rate returned to high, with only Modoc County, Lassen County, Sierra County and Mono County reporting low transmission rates.

In December 2020, California became the first state to report two million confirmed COVID-19 cases. As of Saturday, the state has seen a total of 4,406,854 confirmed cases, according to the state's health department.

Newsom said the state has to "maintain our vigilance," adding "We've got to stay on top of this."

Trailing close behind California in positivity rates are Maryland, reporting 25.34 new cases for every 100,000 people, and New Jersey, reporting 26.74. Florida currently has the highest positivity rate in the country, with 262.30 of every 100,000 people testing positive for COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins.

I_survived_the_movie on September 20th, 2021 at 03:01 UTC »

It's hilarious when you know the governor of Mississippi said on live TV that their numbers are dropping because people are dying and that's okay with him.

Chardonk_Zuzbudan on September 20th, 2021 at 02:05 UTC »

Texas is going to pass California in deaths soon despite having 11 million less people.

jruegod11 on September 20th, 2021 at 01:29 UTC »

must be out-praying the south