California surpasses 7 million COVID-19 cases

California has reported more than seven million COVID-19 cases as infections rise in the state. The record number of cases comes only one week after California announced its six millionth case.

The rapid spread of cases is due to the omicron variant, which is two to four times more contagious than the delta variant.

Southern California recorded 79,000 new cases a day, increasing from 78,000 the previous week. Two weeks ago, Southern California had an average of 23,000 daily cases. Los Angeles County is seeing 40,00 cases a day, up from 36,000 cases a day the prior week.

In the Bay Area, seven out of 10 COVID-19 cases are from the omicron variant, averaging 22,000 cases a day. Sacramento recorded a seven-day average of 5,700 cases.

The state’s daily COVID-19 death rate has also increased significantly. The current seven-day period reported 103 deaths a day, double what it was the last week of 2021. However, it has not been the highest daily average overall. In January 2021, there were 545 deaths per day.

In Los Angeles County, the death rate has also doubled in the past week, moving to a seven-day average of 42, compared to 22 deaths the prior week. The peak for LA County was 240 deaths a day last year.

“The majority of deaths reported this week are associated with individuals who became infected after Dec. 20, when omicron was circulating widely,” said the LA County Department of Public Health.