U.S. surpasses China, Italy in coronavirus cases; California sees spike as well

The United States has surpassed Italy and China in having the most confirmed coronavirus cases, according to a global case tracker run by Johns Hopkins University.

California now has 3,910 cases and 80 deaths, a major spike over the last few days. State officials say the COVID-19 growth rate is such that it could overwhelm hospitals in the coming days and weeks.

As of Thursday afternoon, the United States was reporting more than 82,400 cases, above China’s tally of more than 81,700 and Italy’s count of more than 80,500.

Spain has recorded more than 56,000 cases. Worldwide, there are more than 526,000 cases. Italy still tops the list of countries with the most coronavirus deaths, reporting more than 8,200.

Spain has reported more than 4,100 deaths; and China, more than 3,200.The U.S. has reported more than 1,100 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins.

Nine more people have died after contracting the coronavirus in Los Angeles County, bringing the death toll to 21, public health officials announced Thursday.

Officials did not disclose any information about the people who died because in some cases their family members were still being notified, they said. In addition, they said that two deaths previously reported by the county have been dropped from the total because one was found to be a resident of a different county and the other, a Lancaster teenager, may be attributed to other causes pending investigation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

L.A. County reported an additional 421 confirmed cases of the virus for a total of 1,229, including 54 in Long Beach and nine in Pasadena. A total of 253 people were at some point hospitalized, which amounts to about 21% of all positive cases, said Barbara Ferrer, director of the L.A. County Department of Public Health.