California becomes first US state to surpass 2M COVID cases

Maryland: California has become the first US state where the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases exceeded 2 million, according to figures published by Johns Hopkins University.

According to the latest data, a total of 2,010,004 cases of the infection and 23,651 coronavirus-related fatalities were registered in California.

A mandatory self-isolation regime is currently in place in four out of five California regions covering over 98 percent of the state’s population. This regime was introduced due to a shortage of intensive care beds and over growing number of new cases.

On December 5, Californian authorities introduced a stay-at-home regime after the region fell below 15 percent of intensive care unit availability. Governor Gavin Newsom said earlier this week that this regime would likely be extended.

The United States has confirmed over 18.4 million cases of COVID-19 and over 326,000 fatalities since the start of the pandemic.